Once In the Future
by Death-Angel-Hikari
Summary: What if the final battle between Kai and Brooklyn had gone horribly wrong? Not only would Team BBA lose a captain and a close friend, but a young child would be denied the warmth that only a father could give
1. Prologue: One Last Chance

A/N: Waah! I'm back with another story! I really shouldn't do this...it's going to cost me even more time...Anyway, I came up with the storyline while listening to 'The Phantom of The Opera" OST - the song Christine was singing in the graveyard, especially...

I have to stop rambling, or I'm going to give away the story!

Mei: Yeah! You will!

Me: Shut up...

* * *

**Prologue: One Last Chance**

Midnight. The moon hung silently in the night sky, accompanied only by a few stray stars here and there. Like a sinister cloak, several dark clouds also lingered, some passing over the moon and blotting out its bright circle before passing on and taking up a new post in the heavens.

A sixteen-year old girl tossed and turned in her bed, bathed in gentle moonlight. Her hair, auburn and so neatly arranged in daytime, now was rather disheveled because of her constant motion.

Quietly, the door to her chambers swung open, and a shadow, cast by the soft hallway light, fell upon the powder blue carpet. Slowly, the person moved into the room and closed the door, doing so quietly; he didn't want the girl, Tachibana Hiromi, to wake all because of his carelessness.

He made his way quickly over to the girl's bedside. He sat down on the mattress, causing Hiromi to turn once more, towards him. He stiffened, holding his breath. Fortunately, she continued to sleep.

A small smile graced the teenaged boy's lips, but it was a sad one, for he somehow knew that this was to be his last night on earth. He leaned forward to brush the delicate dark brown bangs from the other's face. After doing so, he sat back once more. He was content just to watch her sleep. Unconsciously, he fingered the simple gold band he wore around his ring finger, and was glad for the gloves he wore in the daytime. A similar band, bathed silver in the warm moonlight, glittered on the girl's left hand.

Suddenly, unconsciously, Hiromi uttered one word. It was uttered so softly that others could scarcely hear it; yet the tender sound somehow reached the one person for whom it was meant: "Kai…"

Hiwatari Kai started, jerking involuntarily. His actions in turn caused the mattress to jerk under his sudden shift of weight, alerting the occupant to another presence in the room.

"What?" she asked, her voice confused and her face still weary. She sat up slowly – she was still rather sleepy. And then she realized just _who_ was sitting on her bed. The realization caused her to become alert at once.

"K-kai?"

She was shocked. What was the stoic, slate-haired blader doing in her room?

"Hiromi…" The teen's voice was soft, gentle – so unlike the voice she'd grown accustomed to, which was hard and cold and could startle anyone into silence.

"Yes?" She looked into his eyes, soft amethyst pools of such intense emotion that she couldn't bear to gaze into them for long.

Kai sighed, and then got up and walked over to the window. Quietly, he drew the drapes shut, darkening the moonlight that just moments ago streamed in, uninhibited.

"Kai, what's wrong?" Hiromi was getting nervous. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

Kai sat down once more on the bed, closing his eyes as he did so. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as neither teen moved, afraid of scaring the other away. Questions and seeming answers chased each other around in the auburn-haired teen's mind; not one of them seemed a likely explanation for Kai's sudden impulse to visit her in her room.

Suddenly, Kai reached over and enfolded the ruby-eyed girl in an embrace. However, it wasn't just _any_ embrace; it was strong, yet somehow weak at the same time. She felt as though Kai, for some strange reason, was _clinging _to her, almost like a child would cling to a parent. The intensity of the gesture conveyed so much passion and longing that Hiromi was startled, and at the same time touched by it.

She reached up to touch his shoulder. "Kai…_nanda chigau'n desu yo_?" she asked, concerned this time. "_Onegai_…_watashi o iimasu ka…_"1

Kai let go abruptly, staring deep into her eyes. "_Boku wa…boku wa kowai ga…_"2 The last part he whispered; and why wouldn't he, when he'd just _admitted_ to being afraid of something – which was nearly unheard of.

"What…do you mean?" Hiromi was confused. _Hiwatari Kai…afraid?_ "Why?"

"I… can feel it, Hiromi." Kai said, grasping her slim, pale hand in his. "Somehow, I know that I don't have much time left…"

"Kai, don't say that!" Hiromi gently clapped a hand over the other's mouth, cutting him off. "Don't be so negative. Besides, how can you be sure of this?"

"Because of Dranzer." Kai reached into his pocket and brought out his blade, which shimmered slightly in the dim light, and showed it to the auburn-haired girl.

Hiromi gasped. The majestic phoenix that before had glittered so awesomely in the center of the blade, now seemed to be…

"Fading?" Hiromi gasped quietly. "But why?" she asked once more.

"I've no idea," Kai said slowly and evenly, now effectively hiding all emotion. "But I know it means something…and it isn't good. Especially since I plan to face Brooklyn tomorrow."

Hiromi was at a loss for words.

_Dranzer…is disappearing?_ She thought wildly. _But that can't be! Phoenixes don't just disappear! They _can't_! But if Dranzer _is_ disappearing, then…_

A horrible thought crossed her mind. She then shook her head, as thought to clear it out of her head.

"No…Kai, you're just imagining things…aren't you?"

"You know I don't let my imagination run away with me, Hiromi." Kai said sadly as he stood up. "I'm sorry if I disturbed you. I'll leave now." He made his way towards the door. "Good night."

He opened the door.

Hiromi sat dumbly on her bed for a moment, and then, suddenly, she was behind him, hugging him around the waist.

"Kai, please…don't go…" she pleaded, silent tears trickling down her cheeks. She tightened the embrace, begging him mentally to listen to her.

Kai was silent, as though he hadn't heard her. Then, surprisingly, he let go of the doorknob, and the door swung shut.

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A/N: Try to guess what happens...XD

Okay, I'm off! I'll try to update next week!


	2. Chapter 1: The Last Day

Chapter 1: The Last Day

"This looks bad, folks!" DJ Jazzman yelled into his microphone. He surveyed the scene playing out before him, his face a mixture or worry and bewilderment. "So far, Brooklyn's been heavy on the offensive; fortunately, Kai isn't showing any signs of slowing down, but he hasn't been counterattacking, either."

"What do you mean 'he isn't counterattacking'?" Dark blue-haired Kinomiya Takao, one of the five bladers that made up Team BBA, growled, not caring that his voice was lost to the crowd. He shook his fist, and then dropped it, his gaze turning to the slate-haired blader standing, albeit with a little difficulty, on their side of the beystadium. "C'mon, Kai! Fight it!" he shouted, trying to encourage his friend.

"Yeah, buddy! Don't let him get to you!" Blonde Mizuhara Max, probably the most optimistic boy on the team, added. "You can do it!"

"What's he doing?" Kyouju, a rather short, brown-haired blader with glasses asked. "Why isn't he _attacking_?"

"No clue, Chief." Rei replied. To the rest of the team, he said "I hate to break it to you, guys, but it looks like Kai's having trouble finding an opening." The raven-haired, amber-eyed neko-jin looked worried

"No, Rei. You're wrong!" Hiromi cut it, a little too forcefully. She fingered the slim gold ring in her palm. She'd taken it off earlier for fear that someone would see it and ask about it, and that was one story she wasn't ready to share yet. "We just have to…trust that Kai has something up his sleeve. We just have to wait, that's all."

Meanwhile, the two battling bladers were having their own conversation.

"Well, Kai, I'm rather disappointed." Brooklyn, his voice a bored monotone, commented, his gaze averted. "I expected _this_ battle to be…different from our previous one, to say the least, but…" here he shook his head, his fiery locks barely moving. "I guess it was too much to hope for."

"That's where you're wrong!" Kai returned. "So watch and learn, Brooklyn."

"What can I possibly – huh?" The aqua orbs widened in surprise as the blue blade that was Dranzer quickly launched a flurry of attacks on the flame-haired teen's black one, driving it towards the edge.

"That was just the beginning," Kai smirked. He was wrong after all: Dranzer wasn't disappearing, and this wasn't his last day of existence.

"Just the beginning?" Brooklyn asked, cocking his head, as a curious bird would do. "Seems to me that it's the end for you."

The amethyst-eyed blader followed his opponent's gaze and, sure enough, Zeus had countered Dranzer's assault, successfully bringing the battle back into the center of the dish. Unfortunately, Brooklyn's blade had copied Dranzer's attack, and was returning twice as strong.

_No!_ Kai's eyes widened in disbelief. _It's happening again!_ he thought, recalling the first time they had battled. Back then, Brooklyn had also copied one of his attacks and multiplied it twofold.

Suddenly, a gale-force wind – caused by Zeus – began to blow, nearly knocking Kai off his feet. He steadied himself, incensed now, and rallied his faithful blade onwards.

"Come on, Dranzer! Keep going!" he called out. The center of his blade glowed faintly, as if in reply, and zoomed towards its opponent.

"Amazing!" Kyouju cried happily as he watched Dranzer's movements.

"What's amazing, Chief?" Takao asked, looking bewildered.

"Kai figured out, in a split second, that in order for him to move in close enough to attack, he had to work _with_ the air currents Brooklyn is causing, instead of _against_ them!"

"I get it!" Max piped up as he, too, watched the match intently. "If Kai moves with the current, Dranzer will eventually regain any momentum it's lost during the battle until it stores enough energy to launch another attack! Brilliant!"

Hiromi was overjoyed to hear this. "Yes! Go, Kai! Go!"

At the sound of her voice, Kai turned his attention away from the battle and smiled softly at her. And then, as quickly as it had come, the smile was gone, replaced with a look of determination. Hiromi smiled back at him, as though to reassure him, and he turned back to the fight.

_Now I know, _he thought grimly. _Before, I thought that Brooklyn had beaten me, but in reality, I had just beaten myself. Now I know what I have to do…_

"Ah!" He cried out as he was pushed a few feet backwards by a full-force attack from Zeus 1.

"What's the matter, Kai?" Brooklyn asked, his face the perfect picture of self-satisfaction. "Getting tired already?"

Kai didn't reply. _I have to dig deeper. _He steadied himself once more as Zeus rained down another barrage of attacks.

"Well? What are you waiting for?"

I have to dig up every bit of emotion I can find. It's my only chance to win… 

Suddenly, Dranzer's bit began to glow, more brightly now, and Kai smiled. _There! I felt it! I felt the power!_

"The show ends here, Brooklyn!" he yelled, his hands clenched into fists. "Dranzer! Turbo Gigs Flame, NOW!" All at once, the platform he was standing on seemed alight with flame; fingers of electricity crackled and sparked upwards; and an even stronger blast of wind began to blow in Brooklyn's direction. This time, it was the aqua-eyed teen who was knocked down.

"YES!" came the commentary, courtesy of Jazzman. "Looks like Kai was only fooling, ladies and gents! He's BACK IN THE GAME!"

Brooklyn quickly got back on his feet; to everyone's surprise, he was _smiling_. "Now _this_ is more like it!" he said, grinning ecstatically. "I had hoped that this battle was to be better than our previous one; looks like I got my wish…"

"But as far as your dreams of winning are concerned, they're _never_ going to become reality!" Kai interrupted, responding to Brooklyn's grin with a smirk of his own. "Dranzer!"

Sensing its master's silent command, the phoenix contained within the blade urged its prison onward, continuously striking its opponent.

Brooklyn smirked. "Child's play." All at once, Zeus gave an inaudible _click_ and then returned fire on Dranzer. Once more, Kai was knocked down. The slate-haired teen gave a small cry as he crashed onto the metal platform.

Hiromi, Takao, Rei, and Max were on their feet, suddenly afraid for their friend. "He's hurt!" the ruby-eyed female exclaimed, more than a little worried.

"I know, Hiromi," Max replied, not taking his eyes off the battleground, where his comrade lay face down, attempting to get to his feet but always being knocked down; the winds of attack were strong. "But there's nothing we can do!"

At the stadium, Kai groaned inwardly as he struggled to his feet – a feat made more difficult because of the buffeting winds.

"Heh…what are you going to do now, Kai Hiwatari?" Brooklyn asked as he looked down on his amethyst-eyed opponent, a self-satisfied smirk plastered on his features.

"I'm going to take you down!" Kai roared back, finally back up on his feet. Crimson liquid dripped down onto the metal from the various attacks he had received in battle with the flame-haired teen.

"Oh?" the aqua-eyed blader arched an eyebrow in disbelief. At the same time, his dark blade swerved around the dish and slammed once more into its still-weakening adversary. "And how do you plan to do that?"

"For one thing, Kingston," Kai spat, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "I have something _you _don't: friends."

Brooklyn cocked his head; in the stadium, the blades were still battling. "'Friends'?" He didn't look confused; it was quite the opposite – his face was a mask, totally devoid of emotion.

"Yes. And I can feel it in me, giving me power." Kai smiled a serene smile – something he did so very rarely. "Even now, as I stand here, facing almost sure defeat, they're behind me, supporting me all the way." And then his expression changed to one of determination, spurning his cherished blade forwards into its enemy.

"I had a taste of your true power before, Brooklyn!" he cried as the two battling blades smashed into each other. "I won't let it take me down! Just watch me!"

Suddenly, Kai's pupils contracted, and he let loose an undulating battle cry. His Dranzer responded to his call, and a sizeable column of fire erupted from the blade. The attack would have been devastating, had it connected. Instead, it was immediately countered with a wave of pure darkness that emanated from Zeus.

"You're going to take me down?" Brooklyn's gaze was no longer on the slate-haired teen, but on the battle that raged below. He shook his head.

"You'd better believe it!" Kai answered, his gaze smoldering with hatred and determination. "You're _nothing_, Kingston! And I'm here to prove it once and for all!" His loyal blade surged forth, letting loose another flurry of attacks. "This is it! I'm _not_ giving up! Not until I've brought you down!"

"Amazing, ladies and gentlemen!" Jazzman yelled into the microphone over the howling winds of battle. "Its highly apparent that Kai is hurt, yet he keeps on going! This is indeed a remarkable battle!" The crowd cheered their approval, the vast majority egging on the willful youth.

Suddenly, there was a bolt of black light. It crackled as it burst from Brooklyn's blade and descended with a sickening _crack_ on Kai's.

"AH!" Kai exclaimed, as much in determination as in pain – aside from his friends' support, he could feel his beloved Dranzer, feel her every injury, share her agony. "I will destroy your dark force!" he cried, willing his blade to counterattack.

There was a silent screech, which only Kai could hear, as his Dranzer did according to his bidding. Zeus did not let this slide; the blade of darkness parried with its own attacks. Because of the fury playing out in the stadium, they began to kick up dust, blurring their masters' visions of the playing field.

"I can't see a thing!" Jazzman exclaimed, coughing slightly because of the dust. "What's happening?"

Though Kai knew what was happening – he could feel his bit beast attacking and being attacked in return – he didn't let on. He knew, however, that the crimson phoenix could not last any longer; he needed to end the battle…and quick.

The dust cleared, and everyone could see that both blades were still spinning, though Kai's blade was spinning a little bit slower than its opponent. Suddenly, Zeus knocked into a building that was part of the stadium they were battling in; the rubble resulting from the impact crashed down onto Dranzer. Almost at the same time, Kai seemed to be knocked facedown by an invisible force.

"No!" Hiromi cried, her eyes wide with apprehension.

"C'mon, Kai!" Rei called to his friend. "You can find a way out of this!" The stoic teen showed now signs of replying or moving.

"This battle's over." Brooklyn stated simply; he turned around, leaving his Zeus to spin to a stop in the stadium, and began to make his way down the platform steps.

Suddenly, he heard a scratching sound coming from the dish; he turned. And gasped.

"WHAT?" he exclaimed, his mouth agape, his eyes suddenly fearful. "How did you -?"

Across from him, Kai was painfully getting to his feet; in the dish, Dranzer was slowly tearing down the barrier that held her prisoner.

"Never…underestimate your…opponent, Brooklyn…" Kai said in between gasps. In seconds, Dranzer had freed itself from its cage, and Kai was once more on his feet. The slate-haired teen glanced down at his blade.

"Thanks, Dranzer," he whispered, smiling serenely. "Thanks for hanging in there with me; all I ask now is…is that you tough it out until…until I put Brooklyn away. It won't be long now…" As if in acknowledgement, the center of the blue blade glowed a bright red. Kai turned to his adversary.

"It's time to end this, Brooklyn. And I'll do whatever it takes to win!" he said. He was still breathing hard because of his injuries, but that didn't matter. Not now.

"Whatever it takes, huh?" Brooklyn asked, smirking in a most irksome manner. "We'll just have to see about that! Zeus! Rolling Darkness Attack!"

There was a near-deafening roar, as the black blade seemed to rise up on a column of air, coursing towards its opponent. Once more, Kai cried out in agony as the attack connected; once more, the stoic blader was knocked off his feet; once more, he got back up, with even more difficulty than the two previous times.

"How is it that you keep getting up?" Brooklyn, thoroughly frustrated now, asked, his face contorted in fury.

Kai smirked, slightly pleased that he had infuriated his opponent. If the enemy were angered past the point of logic, they would no longer think rationally – a definite advantage. He glanced up.

"Kai. That's my name; and I'm a blader. You may think _you_ are, too, but you're not! You learned from the best, but you forgot a lifetime's worth of lessons: Beyblading isn't _only_ about overpowering your opponent with fancy moves; that's only part of it. There's more to it. Much more. I learned from every battle I've ever fought. Every friend, enemy, and spectator always had something to offer me. I'm a student of this game and I always will be. Through the hardships of training, competitions, the wins and the losses, I learned something. And now I'm taking _this_ knowledge and using it to my advantage. That's why I can say I'm a true blader! That, and the fact that my friends are here to support me, keeps me going; _that_'s my strength!"

"You can cut the crap!" Brooklyn exclaimed; at the same time, Zeus seemed to be preparing itself for another attack. "'Cause I'm not listening to _any_ of it!" The aqua orbs contracted, and then the flame-haired teen yelled, "Zeus! King of Darkness Attack!"

"Oh, no!" Kyouju was practically frantic now. That's the same attack Brooklyn used against Kai in their previous battle! The one Kai nearly _died_ from!"

"Say _what_?" Takao whirled around to face the bespectacled teen. He'd seen Rei rushed off to the hospital after a very bloody match against Boris from Team Neoborg, back when Team BBA was still new; and he'd seen – on TV – Yuri Ivanov being carted off after _his_ battle against Garland, in critical, but stable condition. But he'd never,_ ever_ heard of someone almost _dying_ from an attack.

The stormy-eyed blader searched his friend's eyes; whatever he was looking for, he never found it. He bit his lip, and then turned back to the match. What he saw made him gasp loudly.

From out of Brooklyn's blade, a _very_ tangible darkness swirled around in a deadly vortex, reaching out in an ever-widening spiral towards the amethyst-eyed teen; Kai stood, unmoving, his hair blowing backwards in the gale-force wind as he stared into the deadly eye of this storm of darkness. Aside from the howling of the wind, which had picked up in speed and ferocity, there was an almost inaudible howling and moaning of what seemed to be spirits, entwined within the fatal absence of light. And then, in the twinkling of an eye, this implausible, near-living 'creature' had engulfed the slate-haired teen.

There was a collective gasp from the crowd as, for a split-second, Kai disappeared, and then _reappeared_ as the darkness dissolved into nothingness, no doubt returning from the horrific dimensions from which its deadly form had been summoned.

Kai fell to the ground, his eyes closed; again, he did not move.

Brooklyn smiled, satisfied. _That takes care of that…_ he thought, pocketing his launcher.

Takao could do nothing but stare at Kai's unmoving form as whispers traveled all throughout the audience; whispers both frightened and confused. What had happened? Was Kai truly defeated? And would he be all right?

Suddenly, there was movement to the brunette's right; both Rei and Max were rushing towards the platform in an attempt to aid the slate-haired blader. Takao, hating himself for doing so, quickly stepped in front of the pair, holding his arms out to the side.

"Takao?" Max was confused. "What-?"

"Don't." Takao answered simply; he glanced down, afraid at what he would have to say next. "Don't try to help."

"But…_why_?" Rei asked, just as confused as Max.

"Kai…Kai made me promise not to interfere, and also to keep _anyone _from interfering." This was what Takao was afraid of; he knew now that he should have _never_ made that promise to Kai. He turned around and blinked once. A single tear escaped its prison and ambled downwards to drip onto the floor.

Why, Kai? 

Where am I?_ Kai stirred slightly, opening his eyes as he did so. He glanced around him; the world seemed to drop out from under him. He was in _that place_ again. That world of…_nothingness_ that Brooklyn had brought him to the last time they had faced off. _Why am I here…again?

_"Hello?" he called, his voice hesitant at first. He knew he was alone, that it was useless and a waste of strength to call out, but it was human instinct, almost impossible to fight. "Is anyone there? Hello!"_

_All at once, he could feel the all-too-familiar sensation of his chest tightening, but he remained calm, his breathing labored, but slow and steady. He knew what to expect; this had happened, too, the last time he was here. It was almost like drowning, only worse, because he knew that this was his – no, his team's last chance at victory. He knew what Balkov (that snake!) was planning, why he suggested the Justice 5 Tournament; he knew how high the stakes were, and that if he gave in now, then his team would have already lost. _

_In only a few seconds, his vision was blurry, and he was gasping for breath, more from necessity than real fear, although it couldn't be denied that he was scared, too. What if he…died here? Not only would his team have lost a member and a captain, but Hiromi –_

_He shut his eyes tight and shook his head, attempting to drive _that_ thought away from him. He wasn't going to let it happen! At least, he didn't _want_ it to happen, but he wasn't sure if he _could_ prevent it…Could he?_

_"Kai?" a soft voice interrupted his thoughts; he glanced up. He gave a sharp intake of breath when the reality of what he was seeing hit him full-force. _

_"Hiromi?" he breathed, not believing his eyes. Surely he was dreaming. Wasn't he? Was this a dream? A hallucination before he passed into the afterlife?_

_The dream-Hiromi extended her hand towards him, smiling encouragingly. "Kai, grab my hand. I'll help you…" she whispered lovingly._

_"What…what do you mean?" he asked, skeptical. It wasn't that he didn't believe it; he wanted so much for this to be real, but he couldn't really bring himself to do it._

_"Just take my hand, Kai…" she replied, still smiling, her ruby eyes gazing deep into his amethyst ones. "Just take my hand…"_

_Obligingly, the slate-haired teen reached out towards her. He stretched his arm out until it felt he could stretch no more; still he couldn't feel her hand in his. He grit his teeth, willing his arm to somehow grow longer, reach further, and then…_

_He felt it. The familiar, slim shape of her gentle paw in his own. He grinned up at her; she grinned back, ecstatic. And then she began to pull him towards her; he held on tight, not wanting to let go of such warmth…_

"What's that?" Brooklyn whirled around to face Kai. The opposing blader was still not moving "Ah, just my imagination…" he muttered. _I must be getting paranoid because of him…_ he thought as he continued to walk down the steps and back towards his team. His benefactor, Balkov, had been watching from the upper levels. The flame-haired teen glanced up at the lavender-haired old man. Balkov shot him a grin of approval.

Suddenly, there was a thunderous screech. Brooklyn glanced backwards, and then hurriedly clambered back up the steps to the dish. He stopped short and gasped, his eyes wide with fear. "No…"

"I don't _believe_ this, folks!" Jazzman yelled from his mechanical platform. "It seems that Kai is still going, and so is his Beyblade!" There were cheers and yells and whoops from the audience. Among the members of Team BBA, there was only relief.

"Thank goodness!" Rei breathed, dropping back onto the bench.

"Yeah…" Max agreed, weakly leaning against the wall. "I thought Kai was a goner!"

Moments later, he found himself choking, a certain auburn-haired teen's arms clamped around his neck.

"Oh, yes! He's all right!" Hiromi exclaimed, overjoyed and relieved.

"Yeah, Hiromi, he's okay…" Max said, gently prying her arms from his neck.

At the stadium, Brooklyn could only stand in shock of what he was seeing. "Why are you…alive?" he asked, his breath coming in short gasps. What enemy was this that kept getting up again after being knocked down, who kept coming back to life?

Kai didn't answer; he could feel what little strength he had draining away. He took a deep breath and stood up straighter, steadying himself for what would come next.

"No matter…" Brooklyn said, smiling as he saw how weak his opponent was. "_This_ next attack should finish you off…Zeus! Go!" The black blade shot forward

Kai gazed intently at the battlefield, waiting. At the last moment, Dranzer leapt upwards, and the amethyst-eyed teen cried. "Dranzer! Finish him now!"

There was another screech – Dranzer's final battle cry – as the blue blade crashed down onto its opponent. Brooklyn had forgotten that, in attacking, his defense would be left wide open, and he was vulnerable; Kai _hadn't _forgotten.

Zeus clattered out of the dish and landed at its master's feet, utterly defeated.

The crowd burst into raucous cheers and applause. For some, this had been the most exciting and heart-stopping battle they had seen, right up there with the battle among the members of Team BBA G-Revolution before the threat of BEGA had appeared.

Kai sighed as he bent down to retrieve his Dranzer. This bit chip shone faintly, but the image of the phoenix was still there. When he got up and turned around to face his team, he found all of them rushing towards him, calling his name. He smiled. _Why not meet them halfway?_ he thought. He descended the steps of the platform and started walking slowly towards his friends.

He was only six feet away from them when Kai suddenly felt his legs give way. He toppled forward, only to be caught by a very worried Hiromi. "Kai?" she asked worriedly, his words from the night before running through her head. She shook her head; she refused to believe it then, and she didn't believe it now! She shook the handsome teen once more. "Kai? Its me, Hiromi…Can…can you hear me?"

Kai only moaned softly in reply.

"Perhaps we should take him to a hospital…" Takao suggested.

"Maybe we should." Max said, gazing worriedly at his barely-conscious friend. "He's in a bad way…"

"N-no…" Kai said, trying to make his voice forceful and authoritative, but not quite making it. He stood up, resting one hand on Hiromi's shoulder. "No." he repeated, sounding more like his old self now. "I'm fine."

"But…but Kai!" Takao protested, grabbing his friend by the shoulders and shaking him. "We _have_ to! You're-"

"Perfectly fine, Takao." Kai said simply, his tone implying that he didn't care to discuss the matter. "I don't need your help. Just…focus on your upcoming match, okay?" he smiled at his stormy-eyed comrade, attempting to put the younger teens anxieties to rest.

"I…all right, Kai, if that's what you want…" Takao replied, his hands hanging limply at his sides in defeat.

There was silence for several minutes, and then Takao looked up, a cocky grin on his face. He gave Kai a thumbs-up, as if to reassure him – and the rest of his friends – that he was okay now. "Don't forget: you still owe me a battle when this is through."

"Yeah, whatever…" Kai muttered as he turned away and made his way towards the corridor that would take him to the 'multi-purpose room' that had been assigned to the team earlier during the tournament. "I'll see you later…"

Takao watched his friend disappear into the shadows of the corridor, and turned to make his way up the platform.

"And that brings us to the final match, folks!" Jazzman was saying. "With a flourishing finish, Kai defeats Team BEGA's Brooklyn, giving Team BBA G-Revolution a fighting chance!"

The crowd cheered once more, eager to see what would become of this last match. Suddenly, an aide rushed up towards the commentator and whispered something in his ear. At first, DJ Jazzman looked nonplussed – whatever news the aide had just given him had to shocking – and then he recovered. He turned back to the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen! Although he has already battled Kai, Brooklyn has kindly been given another chance to battle! Therefore, the last battle will be…Takao Kinomiya versus Brooklyn Kingston!"

_This is it…_Takao thought as he watched his opponent approach. _Kai's right; it's up to me, now…I can't afford to be distracted!_ The steel-eyed teen reached into his arm holder and brought out his Beyblade: Dragoon MS.

On the opposite side of the stadium, Brooklyn glared at Takao as though he were the devil himself. Unknown to everyone else, something had changed within Brooklyn since his battle with Kai. His astonishment and bewilderment at being beaten for the first time had overpowered him, instilling in him a fear of the amethyst-eyed blader and his uncanny knack of 'returning from the dead', as he viewed it. For Brooklyn, Kai was everywhere, and in his mind, he was facing him again. But this time, he would not lose…

Kai slowly walked down the hallway, barely paying attention to the wild cheering and yelling out in the stadium; it seemed so far away now, as though he were in another world, far away from the others…

_Why…do I feel so strange?_ he thought, clenching his fists tightly, as he willed the dizziness and the pain away. _There's nothing wrong with me! Nothing! Dranzer's here; she isn't fading, and I –_

Suddenly, for the second time since his match had ended, Kai felt weak in the knees and he pitched forward. Blindly he felt for anything to steady himself; his fumbling gloved hands met with the cool surface of a nearby wall, and the once-stoic teen leaned gratefully against its helpful form.

Slowly, painfully, he reached into his pocket and took out his blade. The phoenix was still there, imprisoned within, so why was _this_ happening to him? Why _here_?Why _now_? Why _this way_?

And then, as suddenly as the questions invaded his mind, the answer was revealed to him. He smiled softly.

"Yeah, it's over now…I…no longer have reason to fight. I'd hate to leave now, but…if I inspired Hiromi…my friends, then…I'm happy…I had to do it. Now…it's Takao's turn…" he whispered to himself, not concerned in the least what it meant. He dropped his gaze towards his faithful bit beast; its image glowed slightly, as though begging him not to go.

"My days of blading are over…"he continued, although now he was talking to the firebird. "Dranzer, I have to go…don't worry, you'll find someone; I won't be completely gone…in time, you'll understand…Thank you, my friend…"

And then, for him, his surroundings seemed to grow brighter, and then fade. He gave one last smile of farewell…

And closed his eyes, succumbing to the darkness that had once been clamoring to claim him…

_Kai opened his eyes. _Where am I? _He glanced around, but could see nothing…_

_He felt strange. Floating…floating in an endless void…this time, he wasn't afraid. He knew _exactly_ where he was…_

_He had closed his eyes and given in to the darkness…and had opened them again to find himself enveloped in light…_

_There was no more suffering here…only eternal happiness._

The blue blade that was Dranzer slipped, ever so slowly, out of its master's grip, and clattered onto the floor. Upon impact, the entire blade shattered, bursting into thousands of tiny, fragments, shimmering blue and gray; only the bit chip remained intact, as did the image of its inhabitant.

There was a faint melody in the air; so subtle and soft that one could scarcely hear it. Its song, however, was not meant to be heard by a crowd; it played for one person, and one person alone could hear it. The song was one of happiness, of hope, of freedom; and at the same time, a song of sadness, despair, and longing. It was the song of balance, played by only one creature in all of history.

The song of the phoenix.

And it played now for the one person it was meant for.

Hiwatari Kai, his eyes closed, slumped weakly against the cold, gray wall…and breathed his last, a serene smile gracing his lips…

He was free.


	3. Chapter 2: Boku O Wasuremasen

A/N: Hi, everyone! Oh, I was so happy with all the reviews I recieved for this story! To tell you the truth, this killing Kai has been something I've been wanting to try for a long time, but I couldn't come up with a good storyline! Thank goodness for 'The Phantom of the Opera' soundtrack!

Not to mention that I was unsure if I could actually go ahead and _kill_ Kai... But I did! Haha!

Mei: To all those who read and reviewed the prologue and the first chapter, a VERY big THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts!

Aki: Yeah, what she said...

Me: Angel del Silencio, thank you for that comment 'You got my hopes up etc.' in your review; that's exactly what I was striving for! _Domo arigatou gozaimasu_!

Disclaimer: Isn't it obvious?

* * *

**Chapter 2: Boku O Wasuremasen**

It was a typical summer's day: rather hot, but not uncomfortable; the breeze, as was usual these days, was fresh and cool; and the birds, nested within the boughs of various trees, were twittering their songs of happiness and goodwill.

Hiromi sighed as she gazed at her surroundings. It was another sunny day, and she should have been cheerful. Instead, she was seated here on Takao's back porch, feeling only emptiness inside of her.

It had been three months since they had discovered Kai's body in the corridor, the shattered Dranzer blade, and on the floor in front of him, the still intact and forlorn-looking bit chip. They had thought that he was asleep, until Takao had attempted to rouse him and found him limp, lifeless.

It was a distressing time for the Beyblading world. It marked the first time in all history that someone _died_ from what seemed an innocent game of spinning tops. Because of the incident, kids were nearly afraid to engage in what once had been their favorite pastime. Though the paranoia had died down, it was still rare to find children playing the game in the park and in other recreational areas; the tournaments had grown scarce, too.

As for Kai, the doctors had diagnosed exhaustion – explainable, since Kai had expended so much energy merely willing his Dranzer to battle on, but it was still questionable. If it was only exhaustion, why, then, was Kai not among them now? The remaining members of Team BBA, and Hiromi, of course, refused to believe that that was the _only_ cause. There had to be something else, but they couldn't find out _what_ exactly it was.

Hiromi sighed again and sniffed, suddenly aware that her eyes were beginning to water. She reached upward with a hand to wipe away the few tears that were trickling down her cheeks, and then blinked to keep more tears from falling.

Suddenly, her stomach lurched, and she brought a hand to her mouth. Quickly, she got up and ran for the bathroom, stumbling as she went.

* * *

"So, are we good to go?" Takao asked as he fingered his favorite red-and-blue baseball cap. He glanced around at his friends. He saw Max leaning against one of the gateposts, a habit he had incurred quite recently; he shrugged it off. Standing beside the blonde-haired teen was raven-haired Rei, who caught Takao looking at him and grinned. Takao grinned back. Still seated on his favorite spot on the front porch, tapping away on his computer, was Kyouju. And Kai…Kai was nowhere to be seen. 

The stormy-eyed blader shook his head. Three months, and he _still_ wasn't used to not seeing his captain whenever the group got together. He sighed. Such a seemingly innocent game, and it had taken the life of one of the most important people in his life.

Then something dawned on him. "Hey, has anyone seen Hiromi?"

Max glanced up, puzzled. "Did you…check the back of the house?"

Kyouju looked up from his laptop and nodded. "Yeah. I noticed she's gotten into the habit of separating from the group – whenever we're here - and visiting your backyard, Takao."

"You know, you're right…" Takao said thoughtfully. "I didn't think to check there." He turned and started off. "Wait here!"

He rounded the corner of the house at a rather fast clip, and skidded to a stop when he reached the back porch; Hiromi was not there.

_Strange…_ he thought as he hopped up onto the raised wooden structure. _I thought for sure she'd be here…_ He turned slightly to gaze at the backyard, and sighed. He remembered that Kyouju and Hiromi had sat here on that day they had gotten the new MG core and were trying it out. _All _of them – Max, Rei, Takao, and Kai – were there that day, and they were all having the same trouble with their blades – they couldn't control them. Hiromi had been the newest 'addition' to there group back then, and Takao hadn't liked the idea of a girl on the team back then. However, she had proven herself useful to the team when she devised a training program for them to be able to master the MG core.

It struck Takao just how much Kai had changed since Hiromi joined them. Back then, he was still keen on pushing his team to train, but he had acted…_different_, somehow.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of rushing water coming from inside the house. He turned quickly and then rushed inside just in time to see the auburn-haired female exit the bathroom.

"Hiromi! There you are!" Takao greeted, grinning widely. The ruby-eyed teen looked up, surprised.

"Oh, hey!" she grinned back, attempting to hide her earlier shock at finding the brunette in the house.

"What were you doing in the bathroom just now?" Takao asked.

"I, err…needed to do 'something'…" Hiromi replied vaguely. Takao nodded, showing he understood, when in reality, he didn't.

"Oh…okay." He held out a hand, a gesture to come closer. "C'mon, the whole gang's here and we're ready to hit the streets!"

"Well, what's left of it…" Hiromi muttered sadly under her breath. Wordlessly, she took the brunette's hand and followed him back outside.

* * *

"Uh, Hiromi, are you okay?" Max asked, suddenly putting his face in front of the auburn-haired teen's own. 

Hiromi looked puzzled. "Huh? What do you mean, Max?" The group had just finished lunch and had roamed around the mall for around an hour. They didn't really know what they were doing there, but each one understood, through a silent agreement, to spend as much time with each other as possible; they couldn't tell whether or not in the near future, _another_ of them would be taken.

"Well…" the sapphire-eyed teen looked worried. "You seem sort of…nauseous."

"Yeah…you look like you want to hurl…" Takao said, glancing up from his ice cream cone.

"I think I ate too much ramen…" Hiromi grinned, trying to reassure her companions. "Really, there's nothing to worry about!"

"Are you sure you don't need to use the restroom?" Rei pressed. "I know where the nearest one is."

"I'm fine, guys!" Hiromi insisted. She hated it when they fussed over her; she was perfectly capable of handling herself.

"Okay…just tell us when…you feel sort of different, all right?" Kyouju asked, looking up at her with concern in his eyes.

"Sure, I'll do that…" Hiromi said, suddenly distracted by an in-mall hobby shop tournament. Not too many children were gathered, but that doesn't mean there weren't any spectators. She stopped to watch; the four boys noticed.

"Hey, what's that?" Max asked, standing next to the ruby-eyed teen. Rei, Kyouju, and Takao gathered behind the two.

"A hobby shop tournament." Hiromi said simply, not moving her gaze from the two kids who were obviously the two remaining contestants.

Max smiled, relieved that at least the interest in Beyblade was returning, even at such a slow pace, and then he moved closer to see the dish better. And he gasped.

One of the children was using a commercialized version of Dranzer S, the same blade Kai had used when he went against Max in the semi-finals of the Japanese Regional Finals, the one event that brought the members of Team BBA together.

He sighed sadly as he recalled the battle. It had been such a good match; Max had tried his hardest, used every tactic he knew back then, but Kai still won in the end.

A replay had occurred a mere two years later, when the members of Team BBA had to be separated into different teams – Max went to Team PPB; Rei, Baifuzu X; Kai, Neoborg; and Takao, Team BBA Revolution. At some point in the tournament, Max's and Kai's teams had had to fight each other, and it fell to the two former teammates to battle it out to secure a spot in the semi-finals. Kai won that time, too, but the second battle was more memorable for Max, for the slate-haired teen had acknowledged his respect for the blonde teen. For Max, there were no losers that day.

He sighed again, and reached up to wipe the single tear that managed to find its way onto his cheek.

"Ah, show's over…" Takao commented, turning away from the hobby shop. "Let's go." The others turned to follow, but Max stopped them.

"Hang on a minute…who won?" he asked. Apparently, he hadn't paid much attention to the match.

"The kid with the Zeus blade." Hiromi said, an edge of bitterness in her voice.

"Oh…" Max said, nodding to show he understood. No wonder his friends had wanted to leave the scene so quickly; they didn't want to be reminded of their former captain's final battle.

Quietly, the walked away from the shop, each one lost in their own thoughts.

* * *

"Kinomiya!" Takao halted at the sound of the familiar voice. Though the steel blue-eyed teen was the only one called, Rei, Max, Kyouju, and Hiromi all turned around as well. Walking towards them at a rather fast clip were Yuri and Boris, two of Kai's former teammates on Neoborg. 

"Yuri, hey!" Takao said, raising a hand in greeting.

The crimson-haired teen smiled back, as did Boris. "What are you doing here in the mall?" Yuri asked.

Takao had to smile at Yuri's attempt at conversation; the wielder of the ice wolf wasn't well known for his social skills, which left much to be desired. "Well, we thought we'd just…hang out for a bit…"

Boris nodded. "I…see," he said. Apparently, he and Yuri had changed _a lot_ since Team BBA first met them in Moscow, Russia, for the World Championships. Back then, Neoborg – or Borg, as it was known before – Yuri, Boris, and their two other companions Sergei and Ivan hadn't only been unsociable; they were downright cold, calculating, and unfeeling, with no concern for others apart from themselves and victory.

Rei looked off into the distance. He knew that he and his companions all had a part in bringing down Borg, not to mention bringing about a change in its members for the better, but the neko-jin couldn't help but feel that a greater part of the success was due to Kai.

That year, Kai had defected to the Russian team, gaining in return the evil bit beast that was Black Dranzer, the 'most powerful bit beast in the world', according to its creator, Balkov, one of Hiwatari Souchirou's lackeys. However, after the incident at Lake Baikal – where Kai had challenged all of them using his black bit beast – the amethyst-eyed teen had realized what his _true_ priorities were and returned to Team Japan. Soon after joining them again, he revealed to them the secret nature of the Balkov Abbey trainees, most important of all the four members of Borg.

The amber-eyed teen also couldn't forget the third round of his own match against Boris, the lilac-haired teen that stood before him now. Boris as a human being was the coldest of the lot, and as a blader, he was downright vicious. Rei had to be carried off to the back room twice in order to recover, but each time the Chinese lad had rebounded and continued with the battle. Before he could leave the back room, so he could start – and hopefully finish – the final round, Kai had said something to him that meant so much at that time, mainly because he didn't often show such gestures of kindness _or_ concern. Four simple words, but they had turned the tide in Rei's favor.

Rei smiled as he closed his eyes. He could still hear Kai's voice: _"Good luck, my friend_."

It saddened him to think that never again would he hear the slate-haired teen speak, whether it were words of wisdom or criticism that issued forth.

"Maybe you'd like to accompany us for a while?" Yuri was saying as Rei snapped back to reality. "We have…something you might like to see…"

"All right, I'm game!" Takao replied instantly. "Bring it on!"

* * *

"So, what's this you wanted us to see?" Max asked, stepping over a rotting banana peel. Yuri and Boris had led the group to the apartment they were currently sharing. Needless to say, the two Russians weren't very good at cleaning up after themselves. 

The crimson-haired teen was silent as he stepped over to a VCD player. He rummaged through several piles of CDs for a few moments before pulling one out. Once more he approached the group, Boris close on his heels. "Chairman Daitouji thought you'd like to have this," Yuri said as he held out his hand.

Takao looked down. In his ex-rival's hand lay a plain, white CD. He glanced back up at the slightly taller teen. "Err, thanks, but…what is it?"

Boris sighed. The lilac-haired teen had come far since his days of being a heartless blader. Yes, he could still be insensitive at times, but he had already begun to rediscover his feelings, long buried within him because of his training at the abbey. He knew what the teens in front of him were feeling; they all had lost someone dear to them. "It's…a record." He said, placing his hands in his pockets. "A record of all of Kai's battles. The chairman thought that you'd like to have a more…material memory of him."

Takao's hand shook as he accepted the CD from Yuri. Their eyes met for a moment, steel blue and light violet. The brunette nearly drew back at the well of emotion he could, for the first time, read in the Russian's eyes.

Sadness.

Betrayal.

Hurt.

Confusion.

Takao blinked, as though to confirm what he was seeing. They were there, the emotions, as well as the questions so similar to his – Takao's – questions, left unanswered even now, three entire months, after one teen's death.

He forced himself to smile, to keep the tears inside. "Th-thanks, Yuri. Can you…can you tell Chairman Daitouji that we appreciate the gesture?" The violet-eyed teen nodded sullenly. "Thanks. Again."

"Anytime." Yuri and Boris replied in unison. The two Russian bladers glanced at each other, surprised – this was the first time they had said something at the same time – and, after a few moments' silence, chuckled slightly.

Takao laughed, too. It was contagious; plus, it felt good to laugh. There had been almost no opportunity to indulge in such an activity ever since Kai had done; there had simply been no reason to.

Pretty soon, even Hiromi was giggling, her shoulders shaking in quiet laughter.

After a few more minutes of chuckling, everyone managed to calm down enough to speak. Takao sat down on a nearby wooden chair.

"Does anyone know why we were laughing back there?" he asked, glancing around at his companions.

Max shrugged; Rei shook his head, as did Kyouju; Hiromi…well, Hiromi was still busy giggling – though at a slower rate – to reply. Only Yuri and Boris gave a verbal answer, which was, of course, 'no'. That set them off again, but only for a short while.

When they had all calmed down once more, Max was the one who spoke up first this time. Grinning now, he looked at Boris and Yuri gratefully. "Thanks again, guys, for the CD." He turned to his teammates. "Are we going now?" Kyouju and Rei nodded in reply; Max turned back to the Russian bladers. "Well, I guess that's it, then. See you, Yuri, Boris."

"Yeah, see you next time." Yuri said, also grinning. He didn't mind that the remaining members of Team BBA had turned and were now headed for the door.

"Oh, and if you each want a copy – you know, all to yourself – just tell us, okay? We have the original and can always copy it whenever we want." Boris called after them.

Rei, who had now reached the doorway, turned to glance at their newfound friends and smiled. "Sure, Boris. Thanks. We'll look you up on that offer when we've thought about it." The neko-jin raised raised a hand in farewell, and was gone. The door swung shut quietly after him, leaving now sign that another human had set foot in the apartment aside from its occupants.

Yuri glanced at his friend out of the corner of his eye. "Is it just me, or did we _actually_ invite someone to 'our place'?" he asked, still trying to get over what they had just done.

Boris simply smiled. "Yes, Yuri, that we did."

The apartment was silent for a few moments. Only Boris moved to seat himself on the comfortable couch situated by the window. Then the crimson-haired teen spoke up once more.

"Wonder what Kai's face would have been when he saw us do that?"

Boris gave a bark of laughter. "Priceless!"

* * *

"So…you guys want to watch this when we get back to the dojo?" Takao asked, fingering the CD case. 

"Sure, why not?" Hiromi answered instantly. She'd only seen Kai's battles from last year, when she first met the group world-class bladers that would soon become her constant companions.

"Well, I've got nothing better to do…" Kyouju said thoughtfully.

"Me, too. I don't have any other plans for the day." Max added. Rei said nothing.

"I guess that settles it," Takao said, half-turning so he could keep his friends in his line of sight. "C'mon guys! Let's hurry back! This no doubt contains Kai's battles from this year's championship, not to mention the Justice Five tournament, and you know how long _those_ were compared to before…"

"Yeah." Kyouju nodded in agreement. "Two years ago, Kai could have sent a blade out of the dish in literally the blink of an eye, unless his opponent was _really_ good."

"Really?" Hiromi went wide-eyed at the thought of a split-second match. This she _had_ to see!

* * *

"Kyouju, hurry! It's about to start!" Max called excitedly from the Kinomiya living room, the one room in the entire dojo that had a modern television hook-up – cable, CD/DVD players, stereos, etc. 

"I'm coming!" the bespectacled teen called from the kitchen. "I was just getting a glass of water!"

"Well, bring it with you!" Takao shouted, his eyes glued to the screen. The screen was totally black, but he knew that the CD was already playing because music was coming from the speakers. It was something like the opening credits of a movie, only with no credits.

The mousy-haired teen suddenly appeared in the doorway and joined the group huddled together on the floor. "Did I miss anything?" he asked.

Rei shook his head, staring intently at the television screen. "The first battle is yet to come on."

"Good."

A few moments later, the opening scenes from the qualifying round in the first Japanese Regional Tournament came on.

"Hey! That's Kyouju!" Hiromi exclaimed, pointing to one of the competitors who had made it to the final round of that block. Indeed, it was the Chief, oversized spectacles and all.

Kyouju grinned and blushed, rather embarrassed that he had been caught on video that time.

The bespectacled teen had joined that first Japanese tournament along with Takao and Max; he'd even constructed his own blade specifically for the event. It looked like any other Beyblade, but its base had a spring attached to it, allowing it to jump in order to avoid most attacks.

"There's Kai!" the cry came a few minutes later as the slate-haired teen came on screen. Only he was younger in the video, and he wore the black tank top and sneakers, baggy cargoes, and snow-white scarf; Hiromi had never seen that particular outfit, but for her, it looked like just something Kai would pull together.

And so it went. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching the rather lengthy video – one of the few tokens they had left of their stoic captain. Hiromi fell to observing Kai's personality and battle style, and found that nearly nothing had changed in the three years he had been blading. The members of team BBA were silent, miserable that they would never see another blader quite like the amethyst-eyed teen had been, yet content that they had _this_ memoir to cherish.

Finally, the video ended, and Takao stood up to retrieve it from the player. "You know," he said, after some time, his back still turned to them. "We could…try to use some of his techniques, if ever another tournament comes up."

"Huh?" Kyouju glanced up. What was Takao talking about?

"We could modify some of Kai's techniques for _us_ to use…that way, a little bit of him would stay behind, right?" Takao turned to face his friends; they noted the wet glistening of his steel-blue eyes, and knew that he was still grieving, just as they were. "So, you guys up for it?" he asked, smiling a rather watery smile.

"So that we won't forget him, right?" Max spoke, smiling back at his friend.

"Yeah, exactly." Takao said, nodding a little _too_ vigorously.

"If that's the case, Takao…" Rei stood up, went over to the brunette and placed a hand on the slightly younger teen's shoulder, "then I don't think there's any need to do that."

"But – why?" Takao looked shocked. "You guys don't want to forget him, too, right?" he glanced at his teammates. They nodded, indicating he should continue. "Then…why shouldn't we modify some of his moves? I don't get it!"

"Don't you see?" Max asked as he stood up and moved to his friend's other side. "Although Kai is gone, he'll never disappear completely as long as we remember him."

"Max is right, Takao," Hiromi said, sounding rather sullen; Takao couldn't be sure, though, because her eyes were hidden by her long auburn bangs. "The only time he'll be gone for good is when we choose to forget him, and I don't think that's going to happen in _long_ time."

"You're right, guys…" Takao said after a few moments, smiling sheepishly. "I guess…I just miss the way he'd train us and everything…him being captain and all…"

"We know, Takao…We-huh?" Max did a double take, glancing at the stormy-eyed teen in bewilderment. "Did you just say you miss Kai's _training_?"

Takao laughed, nodding. "Yup! Pretty strange, huh?"

"I'll say," Rei said, smiling too. "You used to complain about training _all_ the time!"

"I guess this would be an example of 'you don't know how much something is worth until it's gone'." Kyouju said, taking off his glasses and cleaning them on his shirt before putting them back on.

Everyone nodded in agreement, then became silent once more, each one lost in thought about the friend they had lost, but would never be gone from them completely.

* * *

_It was pretty nice of Chairman Daitouji to give us the CD…_Hiromi thought as she made her way home. 'Home' for her was a rather small, but comfortable one-story Western-style house a few blocks away from the Kinomiya Dojo. Her father had died long ago – when she was only five – so it was just she and her mother living there now. 

Hiromi glanced up at the sky, which was slowly turning a deep purple, a sign that night was on its way. She sighed and shook her head at how strange it was that, when her father had died, she had cried her heart out and felt better about a mere two weeks later – meaning she didn't mind if someone brought up the subject; she could talk about it and not get teary-eyed. With Kai, however, it was a different story. She'd had the same reaction as with her father's death – she did a lot of crying those first two days after they learned he had gone – yet here she was, three months later, and even just thinking about the slate-haired teen made her want to break down all over again.

She glanced down at the slim gold band she wore on her left ring finger. Perhaps it was because of the…bond she shared with Kai. She eased the ring off and stood quite still for some time on the sidewalk, doing nothing except examining the golden object she held between thumb and forefinger. She slipped it on again. It had seemed like only yesterday that it had happened, but in reality it had been much longer. She sighed once more and resumed walking.

After a few more minutes, she reached the street across from her house. To her surprise, there was a police car, an ambulance, and a small crowd gathered in front. Fearing the worst, she ran across the street, not even bothering to check for oncoming traffic.

"_Sumimasen_…_sumimasen_…please, let me through!" the ruby-eyed girl said as she pushed her way through the small throng of people in order to reach the gate. Soon, however, she wished she hadn't hurried; a mere two feet in front of her were two orderlies. Between them was a stretcher and on the stretcher…was her mother. The rather plump Mrs. Tachibana was still breathing, apparently, but was unconscious; also, as is hospital protocol, the middle-aged lady was hooked up to an I.V. line, which was held aloft by a third orderly.

"_Okaasan_!" Hiromi exclaimed, rushing immediately to her mother's side. Before she could reach her, though, she was restrained by one of the policemen. "Let me go!" she exclaimed as forcefully as she could, not an easy task because of the lump that was starting to form in her throat.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I can't do that," the policeman said gently, smiling. "I-"

"She's my _mother_!" Hiromi was incensed now, and she struggled against the man's firm grip. "_Why_ can't I go to her?"

The first officer was about to reply when a second, friendlier-looking one approached. "It's all right, Tokaki-_san_," he said, smiling understandingly at Hiromi. "Let her go with the ambulance. If she's an immediate relative, then she has every right to go."

After a few moments, the first officer, Tokaki, released her. Hiromi immediately ran towards the waiting ambulance, stumbling a few times on the way there. Soon she was inside the sterile gray interior of the medical vehicle. The rear door slammed shut, there was a shudder as the engine roared to life, and the ambulance sped away.

The ambulance sped through the streets, its siren screaming into the night. The first stars had already begun to appear, but their light could not reach the hysterical girl within the ambulance. The girl, Hiromi, held on to her mother's hand with all her might, while hoping, _praying_, that her one and only living relative would be all right.

* * *

A/N: Another chapter done! Yay! I'm very mean, aren't I?

Mei: Yeah, you are! First you kill Kai, leaving Hiromi without her boyfriend, and now you-

Aki: Mei! You're going to spoil the story if you don't keep quiet!

Mei: Oopsies! smiles sheepishly

Me: Don't mind them, folks...those muses of mine can get rather cranky with each other at times...At any rate, kindly let me know what you think of this second chapter! Points for improvement are VERY welcome, believe me!

Dewa matta! God bless you, one and all! Peace out!


	4. Chapter 3: Revelation

A/N: At long last! It's an update!

Mei: For those who've been waiting and have stuck with Kari-chan this far, your patience has been rewarded!

Aki: _In other words_, Hikari finally tracked down her latest chapter -

Me: _Rescuing _it from a _corrupted _disk!

Aki: Whatever...

Disclaimer: Right...and I'm a mother...

* * *

**Chapter 3: Revelation**

Takao stared glumly out the window. For the past few weeks, Tokyo had had nothing but rain almost every day. Frankly, it was getting boring staying inside the house, especially since he had nothing to do.

It had been three months and two weeks since he and the other members of Team BBA had seen Hiromi. Ever since her mother had died – because of a heart attack, they were told – she'd not made contact with them, except for that one phone call where she'd told them about her mother's passing away and that she would be busy – the ruby-eyed teen had taken a job as an assistant secretary at a small-scale business firm so she could pay the hospital bill. Hiromi also added that she had to learn to support herself.

Takao picked up a small photograph that lay on his desk and shook his head. The photograph was one of them – Team BBA – taken in the days when Beyblading was still a simple pastime, made exciting because of the annual tournament amongst world-class teams. Back in the days when each one of them was still relatively innocent. Back when they didn't have to worry about anyone dying while playing their favorite sport. Back when they didn't have to grow up.

He sighed. It seemed an eternity since those days had passed. He frowned as he remembered the announcement in the news the other day. He'd almost forgotten. Somehow, Balkov had managed to be appointed Chairman of the Board, but of BEGA – the training center he'd formed a few years back, the same company that sponsored the Justice Five tournament. The tournament that had the future of the BBA riding on it… and the one that took Kai away from them.

And then, Takao smirked. He remembered that the only reason Balkov had set up the tournament was to prove that his training center was better than the BBA. He had hoped that – since part of the contract was that the BBA would shut down when its team lost – when _his_ team of lackeys won the tournament, lots of bladers would sign up at BEGA and would receive an exclusive members' card. The card, he'd said, was the only way bladers would be able to get spare parts for their blades, so you had to be a member if you wanted to maintain your blade. If things had gone according to plan, Balkov would have been in control of the entire blading world, his one ambition ever since Takao had met the lavender-haired middle-aged Russian.

However, things had _not_ gone according to plan; far from it, in fact. Almost no one had signed up to join BEGA, and, according to some, hobby shops were still selling parts even to those who didn't have the 'requirements'. It was the very irony of the fact that Balkov still lost even though his team had won that made Takao smirk.

_Look's like Kai still carried out his promise…_ the stormy-eyed teen thought, recalling the day Kai had vowed not to let Balkov win. _Even in death, he managed to pull it off_…

In the distance, lightning flashed; thunder rumbled. Takao paid no notice to the din outside; the telephone had begun to ring. He strolled over to it and picked up the receiver.

"_Moshi moshi_?"

* * *

Hiromi sighed and picked up her brown handbag from the desk. Another workday for her had ended. _Just in time to get caught in the rain and without a ride home…_she thought miserably, gazing at the sky through the huge plate-glass window. She could take the subway, but the way to the nearest station entailed a five-minute walk in the storm; three if she ran and there was no traffic. Of course, there was always a cabby service available, but it cost more than her subway ticket. And she wasn't about to spend more than what was necessary, not now when the termination date was so close.

She sat down again, dropping her bag onto the mahogany tabletop, and glanced at the ring she always wore on her finger. She sighed and caressed her stomach. _Not too long now…_ she thought, smiling contentedly as she remembered that fateful day.

* * *

_"Are you sure you want to go through with this, Hiromi?" Kai asked as he watched her cross the threshold into the small chapel they had chosen. "If you're having second thoughts, I can wait until you're sure of your answer…"_

_The auburn-haired teen gazed back at him, her ruby eyes shining with determination. "Of course I want to go through with this, Hiwatari Kai." She said, smiling at the slate-haired blader. "If we wait a few days more, or even a couple of weeks, it might be too late by then."_

_Kai smiled that gentle smile he seemed to reserve only for her and held out a hand. "You have a point…are you ready?"_

_Hiromi took his hand and giggled nervously. "As ready as I'll ever be…"_

_The pair smiled and slowly began to walk towards the altar, where a priest was waiting for them._

_It seemed like only minutes later that the sacred rite was carried out. Hiromi slipped the slim gold band onto Kai's finger, just as he did a few moments earlier._

_There was no congregation to applaud their union, no tears of joy or shouts of approval. Kai, Hiromi, the priest, and two deacons – to sign the marriage certificate – were the only ones in the chapel._

_Hiromi pulled away from the kiss and gazed into Kai's amethyst pools…and was shocked by the depth of emotion she saw._

_Happiness._

_Nervousness._

_Joy._

_Love._

_The ruby-eyed teen blinked, and returned the smile he gave her. She couldn't believe the stories Takao and the others had been telling her about Kai. They had said that the stoic teen was incapable of expressing his emotions. Yet here he was, exposing his feelings to her, and for once, he was not afraid of doing so._

_She enfolded her partner in a loving embrace, happy and grateful she had been 'the chosen one'._

* * *

She sighed again. That night, it seemed that they had had all the time in the world. Yet, not even two weeks later, it had ended, physically, at least.

Yes, she had known from the first day that she was pregnant with Kai's child and that she wouldn't be able to keep their secret any longer, but she was determined to do everything necessary not to let the cat out of the bag too soon.

The child within her squirmed, restless; she could feel its every movement, and it was as though she could feel what the baby felt as well. She brushed her slightly round belly, believing that even the lightest touch would reach the developing baby and soothe it; sure enough, the baby settled back into peaceful 'slumber', if you could call it that.

She stood up and glanced at the window; the rain had slowed down, so she wouldn't get that drenched if she took the subway. Having made up her mind, she picked up her bag, shrugged on her coat, and left.

* * *

_Driing!_

"Now who could that be?" Hiromi wondered out loud as she got up from in front of the television. She hurried into the hall and towards the front door.

"_Hai_?" she said as she swung open the door. And gasped. There, on her front doorstep, stood Max, Rei, and Takao. "What are you guys doing here?" she asked, glancing from one teen to the other. Her visitors just smiled.

"Oh, where are my manners?" Hiromi slapped her forehead, and then moved backwards into the hall, leaving space for her friends to pass. "Please, come in and, err…make yourselves at home."

"Thanks." Takao said. The stormy-haired teen was the first one to enter the house. "Pretty nice place you got here, Hiromi…"

"Yeah; I have my mother to thank for that…" Hiromi smiled wanly. "She was always great at interior decorating."

"We can see that…" Max said cheerily as he examined a rather expensive-looking angel figurine that stood on a marble mantel in the front hall.

Rei, who was already in the living room, sat down on one of the cushioned chairs. "So…how's your new job going?" he asked.

Hiromi sat back down on the couch and grinned contentedly. "Well, it's pretty easy work compared to helping to look after you guys."

"Very funny." Takao said, rolling his eyes. "Remind me to laugh later…"

Max grinned. It had been a long time since they had acted like this; much too long for his taste, and he was happy that his friends were lightening up, even just a little bit. Then he did a double take at Hiromi. Was it just him or…

"Hiromi…uh, are you eating right?" he asked tentatively, taking a seat next to her on the couch.

"Of course I am, Max," Hiromi replied, looking at him with a bewildered look on her face. "Why do you ask?"

"Well…" the blonde teen trailed his gaze to a nearby window instead of looking her directly in the eye. "I, err…noticed your stomach is, well…bulging."

Hiromi's eyes widened. He noticed… "Are you sure it's my stomach that's bulging?" she asked, forcing a laugh to hide her nervousness. "Because it might just be my shirt, you know…"

"Max's right, Hiromi…" Takao said, glancing pointedly at the auburn-haired teen. "Your tummy's looking sort of big…"

"And I don't think it's the shirt…" Rei added, "Especially since the blouse you have on is rather fitted."

"Um…" Hiromi dropped her gaze to the floor. Oh, man… she groaned inwardly. How can I break this to them?

After around five minutes of uncomfortable silence, Takao went to sit in the space at Hiromi's other side. He laid a hand on the nervous girl's shoulder. "Hiromi, did something…happen? Something you're not telling us?"

Hiromi blushed slightly and fidgeted in her seat. Rei leaned forward in anticipation; was she going to tell them?

"C'mon, Hiromi…you can tell us." Max said, reaching for his friend's hand, in order to assure her. "We're listening."

There were a few more minutes of silence. Finally, Hiromi took a deep breath, closed her eyes and leaned back into the couch.

"Do you remember when Kai and I arrived late at the hotel we were staying at? Nearly seven months ago?"

"Yeah, I remember…" Takao said, one eyebrow arched bewilderment. "You said that you went late-night jogging, and Kai was…training, as usual."

"That's right." Hiromi said, her eyes still closed; she didn't want to look at anyone just yet. "A few days before that – you guys were out doing who-knows-what, leaving Kai and me alone in the hotel room – well…let's just say Kai did something unexpected…"

"What, try to put you through training, since we weren't there?" Takao asked.

Hiromi cracked a smile and shook her head. "No. He…erm…" Hiromi blushed once more. "He…proposed to me…"

Three mouths dropped open upon hearing that last part; none of the three boys could speak from sheer shock. Takao was the first to recover.

"He WHAT?" he sputtered, jumping up from the couch.

"He proposed-"

"I know he proposed to you!" the steel blue-eyed teen said, waving his arms around wildly. "I just can't believe he actually did that!"

"Whoa…" Max said, slumping back in his seat. "Kai actually liked someone. And right under our noses!" he grinned and shook his head. "How stupid of us not to have noticed…"

"Well, he kept it pretty well-hidden…" Hiromi grinned.

"Anyway, Hiromi…what happened on that night? You know, the night when you went jogging and all that…" Rei prompted. The neko-jin was still in shock over what he heard, but he wanted to get to the heart of the matter.

"Right…" Hiromi nodded. "Well, there's not much to tell except that that night when we came home late, Kai and I had…err…just 'tied the knot'."

"_NANI_?"Max, Rei, and Takao exclaimed in unison, once more shocked beyond belief. "You guys actually married?"

Hiromi had to giggle; her friends' faces looked so silly! She nodded her head in reply. "Yes, I'm glad to say we did."

"Cosmic…" Max said, his eyes still wide with disbelief. "It boggles the mind…"

Takao shook his head. "I don't believe what I'm hearing! Kai actually went and did…that." Rei kept silent; his companions had echoed his exact sentiments."Then…that means…" the Chinese boy straightened up suddenly as realization struck. "That means…Hiromi…you're…"

Hiromi nodded, blushing. "Yes, Rei…I am."

Silence reigned once more, if only for several moments. And then…

"WOO-HOO!" Takao yelled, pumping his fist in the air. Then he started dancing around, chanting, "Kai's gota baby!"

"Congratulations!" Rei said, coming over to her and patting her on the shoulder. Max, overcome with shock, couldn't say anything but 'Oh, my gosh…' over and over.

"I'm going to tell Kyouju!" Takao said as he walked over to the phone. He picked up the receiver. "Is that all right with you, Hiromi?" he asked, looking at the auburn-haired teen.

Hiromi nodded, smiling pleasantly. I shouldn't have kept it a secret from them… she thought, gazing around at her friends. It wasn't right. In fact, we should never have kept the whole thing from Takao and the others…

The next thing she knew, Max's arms were around her. "I'm so glad you told us, Hiromi," the sapphire-eyed teen said, a broad grin on his face. "It's not right for someone to bear any burdens alone, like you undoubtedly have been these past months."

"You're right, Max." Hiromi answered, returning the hug. Oh, that felt good! She hadn't hugged anyone else after Kai's death, because she was afraid it would stir up memories of 'those times' and she hadn't wanted to risk breaking down from the intense emotion she thought she'd feel. But she'd been wrong; it was a huge gesture and reassurance that everything would be all right. "I'm sorry I kept it from you guys for so long…"

"Hey, you still told us the truth, right?" Rei said, sitting down beside her. At that same moment, Takao put down the phone and walked back to the couch.

"Ouch…it's a good thing Chief didn't visit with us…" he commented, rubbing his right ear. "If he had, every single glass thing here would have been shattered."

"That loud, huh?" Max asked, referring to what must have been Kyouju's shouts of exhilaration. Takao merely nodded and sat back down.

"So…about the baby…"

* * *

The next two-and-a-half months passed by quickly for Hiromi and her friends. There was so much to do.

Kyouju nearly freaked when he heard that Hiromi hadn't gotten her home ready to 'accept a child', as he put it, and immediately told her that she needed to take a maternity leave from her job. She'd complained at first, saying that she needed the money, but the bespectacled teen explained that with maternity leave, she'd still be receiving her paycheck, so it was nothing to worry about; Hiromi calmed down after that.

Next had come the whirlwind shopping spree – for the necessities, of course. They had bought a small crib, two or three small pillows, two packs of disposable diapers and around ten cloth ones, towels, three babies' pajamas, several small shirts, and other odds and ends that they thought a baby might need.

"There! You're all set!" Kyouju exclaimed, settling down to admire his 'handiwork'. Chief had been the one to instruct Takao and the others where to place the crib, how to put away the baby clothes in the closet, etc., while Hiromi had relaxed and watched them work. She smiled.

"Thanks, guys. You don't know how much I appreciate this, you guys helping out and all that..."

"Anything for a friend," Takao said, wiping his brow. He'd put together most of the baby's crib – which they'd set up in Hiromi's old room. Max was at the department store, buying some baby toys, while Rei was in the kitchen, cooking dinner.

"Well, I'd say this house is pretty much set." Kyouju said, smiling up at a very pregnant Hiromi. "I've got to go now, though; my parents need me at the restaurant."

"Then by all means, go." Hiromi urged. "I wouldn't want your parents to chew you out for being late on my account."

Kyouju smiled back before he closed the door. "If you need anything-"

"Just call. I know." Hiromi gave a small wave. "Thanks again."

The door swung shut, and Takao and Hiromi were left to themselves. For a few moments, it was deathly quiet. Then Takao spoke.

"What do you think it'll be?" the stormy-eyed teen asked as he went and sat down in a cushioned straight-back chair sitting in a corner of the room.

"Huh?" Hiromi did a double take; she'd been staring out the window before Takao asked the question.

"I mean the baby." Takao explained, reaching for a heart-shaped pillow and fluffing it up. "Do you think it'll be a boy or a girl?"

Hiromi shrugged. "I don't know. My termination date is pretty close so…"

"Yeah. Guess we'll know by then, huh?"

Suddenly, from downstairs…

"Guys! Dinner's on!" Rei called.

"We'll be there!" Takao replied. He got up, and then held out a hand to Hiromi. "C'mon, let me help you," he said.

The auburn-haired teen looked puzzled. "What?"

Takao gave a lopsided grin. "You don't expect a very pregnant mother to make it down that staircase by herself, do you? If you fell, that would jeopardize the baby!"

"Well, you're pretty knowledgeable…" Hiromi said suspiciously as she took his hand, allowing herself to be led downstairs.

When they got there, the succulent aroma of spaghetti assaulted their senses.

"Wow, Rei, that pasta smells pretty good!" Hiromi commented as she sat down at the table. The neko-jin, wearing a white apron, smiled.

"Thanks. I guess Uncle was right when he said I take after him."

Takao, after spooning an ample amount of pasta onto Hiromi's plate, helped himself to huge serving. "Itadakimasu!" he said, before picking up his fork and digging in.

"Well, someone's hungry…" Rei commented. He slipped off the apron and sat down opposite Hiromi; he glanced up at her and saw she wasn't moving. "Hiromi?"

"Huh?" the ruby-eyed teen snapped out of her reverie. She grinned apologetically "Sorry, Rei, what is it?"

The raven-haired teen gestured towards her plate. "You're not eating."

"Sorry…I was just…thinking…"

"'Bou' wha'?" Takao asked, his mouth half-full of chewed spaghetti.

"Yuck!" Hiromi exclaimed, covering her face with her handkerchief at the sight. "Takao, when will you learn better table manners?"

The blue-haired teen swallowed. "Sorry. What were you thinking about, Hiromi?" he asked again.

"Nothing…" Hiromi forced herself to smile, to assure her friends that all was well. She picked up her fork and began to shovel tiny bites of the pasta into her mouth. However, her movements were mechanical; her thoughts were elsewhere.

_Oh, Kai…_she sighed sadly, if only in her mind. _If only you could see Takao and the others now…

* * *

_

A gentle breeze teased him awake. Slowly, the amethyst pools opened and, blearily took in the surroundings. Where was he, and how did he get here?

Then he remembered, and his shoulders drooped slightly at the thought. He sighed sadly.

The same wind that awoke him now parted the clouds that blocked his view, and then carried towards him the sweet whisper of his beloved.

"Oh, Kai…if only you could see Takao and the others now…"

There was a sadness in her voice that did not belong there; he knew he was the cause and felt guilty for it.

But there was something else Hiwatari Kai knew that the girl he beheld now did not; he could see them, and he was pleased with what he saw.

"If only you knew, Hiromi…"

* * *

"I'm back!" Max sang out as he closed the front door behind him.

"Max! There you are!" Takao said, jumping up from the couch. "What took you so long?"

"The line at the cashier was murder…" the sapphire-eyed teen replied, dropping his packages – which, thankfully, didn't contain anything breakable – on the floor next to the coat rack.

"Well, then, it's a good thing Hiromi had enough sense to save some of the spaghetti." Rei said, coming out from the kitchen. Apparently, he'd just finished putting away the dishes.

"Great! I'm starved!" Max said happily. He immediately went into the kitchen; soon, the threesome in the living room heard the sound of the microwave oven being turned on.

"So, Max, what's in the packages?" Hiromi asked, getting up from her seat. She went over to the coat rack and picked one of them up, albeit with a little difficulty.

The blonde teen came out of the kitchen, carrying a plate of spaghetti. "Just baby toys. Stuffed animals, rag dolls, bath toys – the usual stuff you get for a baby."

"Oh. They must have cost a lot." Hiromi smiled at the slowly maturing teen.

Max shook his head and waved off the comment. "Nah. It's not like I bought the whole store; it's just a selection of what I thought were the reasonably priced, yet enjoyable and fun ones."

"I see. Thanks, Max."

"No problem." The golden-haired teen took a moment to gulp down more spaghetti, and then continued, "Besides, you gave me the money, remember."

"Yeah, I know. I thought you might have spent a little extra on my account, that's all."

"Well, there's no worry in that," Max grinned. "Those toys were pretty cheap; in fact, there's still some money left from the amount you gave me."

Hiromi looked puzzled. How could there still be money left? Toys don't come that cheap…she thought. After a few moments, she shook it off and smiled back gratefully.

"Err, guys, I really hate to go," Rei began as he approached the coat rack and took his jacket. "But my apartment still needs some cleaning..." Rei had moved into a new apartment just five days ago; everyone had helped him with the move, as was their custom.

"Sure, Rei, no problem. Thanks again!" Hiromi said, grinning broadly at the kind neko-jin, who gave a small wave before he shut the door behind him.

There was silence for a time. Max gulped down the last of his spaghetti; he glanced around.

"So, what happened to the baby's room?"

* * *

The eighth of November, two weeks after Hiromi's house was set up for the baby. The auburn haired teen was outside, on the back porch, enjoying the night breeze by herself.

The wind whistled through the breeze, a soft, eerie lullaby; up above, silver moonlight glowed brightly within its celestial orb, its luminance enhanced by the slight blanket of clouds that blocked it out every so often.

Hiromi took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, contemplating the events that had happened so far. And now, another thing was going to happen to her and her friends; she wasn't sure when, but she knew it had to be soon. She took in another breath of sweet night air.

And then she felt it: a gnawing pain in her lower abdomen. She breathed in sharply, attempting to make the pain go away. She couldn't; it was then she knew it was now.

Slowly, she made her way into the house and over to the phone, her breath coming in short gasps all the while. She quickly dialed the number of the hospital and requested an ambulance be sent to her address; she knew it would be the best course of action at this point.

When she was done, she replaced the receiver, and the picked it up again; she dialed another number and impatiently listened to the insistent ringing on the other end. Finally someone picked up.

"_Hello?_"

"Takao, it's Hiromi."

"_Oh, hey! What's up?_"

"It's time."

* * *

"What's taking so long?" Takao muttered irritably. He got up from his chair and paced the length of the waiting room. Max, Kyouju and Rei watched him silently.

"Well, this _is_ Hiromi's first time..." Kyouju said

"Yeah. It could take anywhere from two to eight hours just to deliver one baby." Rei added, his tone of voice telling the stormy-eyed teen to be patient.

"Well, she's already been in there for two hours and thirty minutes," Takao replied, taking off his customary baseball cap and twisting it nervously in his hands. He slumped against the wall. "I'm just worried, that's all…she is our friend. What if something goes wrong in there?"

Max smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, buddy. The doctors won't let anything happen to her."

"Yeah, well, even professionals can make mistakes, y'know…" Takao mumbled. He placed the now-rumpled cap back on his head.

"Well, if you're so nervous, why don't you take a short walk?" the bespectacled teen suggested. "It could help."

"No way!" Takao exclaimed. "I might miss the announcement!"

"Good point…"

Suddenly, they heard the door swing open, and they glanced towards it eagerly. There stood a white-garbed doctor, a clipboard in hand.

"You are here with…Tachibana Hiromi?" he asked, looking at them over the tops of his horn-rimmed spectacles.

Takao hopped up excitedly. "Yes, sir. How is she?"

"She's doing fine," the doctor replied, smiling.

"And the baby?"

"We've stabilized her."

"Yes! The-" Takao was about to do a victory whoop when he realized there was something wrong with the doctor's statement. "Excuse me? 'Stabilized', you say?"

The doctor nodded. "There was a birth complication; the baby was breech."

"What?" Kyouju leapt out of his seat. "Then-"

"Yes. However, we believe we've made good time; the ten-minute period had not entirely passed when we were able to rectify the problem. However, the child did not take its first breath, as was expected. It was only when we were about to break the news to Ms. Tachibana – that her child would not make it – that the baby did cry, albeit a little weakly. But it was a cry, nonetheless."

"And…?" Max prompted.

"As mentioned earlier, the baby has been stabilized. The delivery was no problem; however, the medical team felt it best to attend to the child first before announcing it you gentlemen."

"So, will the baby be fine?" Rei asked, still a bit apprehensive.

"Thankfully, the trauma caused by the momentary lack of oxygen did no damage to the windpipe, or to any other bodily organs. The child is now breathing on her own. Would you like to see Ms. Tachibana?"

"Yes, please," Kyouju replied.

"This way, gentlemen…" the doctor gestured towards a nearby corridor. Takao and his companions followed.

They passed a lot of white doors with pieces of paper tacked to the front; apparently, these papers depicted the name of the occupant. Soon, they came to a door that didn't have any identification; the sign gave the room number as 526.

"She's in here," the doctor said as he swung the door open carefully. "She's just woken up from the anaesthetic, so she might be a little groggy."

Takao stepped through first, followed by Max, then Rei, then Kyouju. For once, the four were respectfully silent; smiling, the doctor closed the door with a small click.

The room was fairly small, but comfortable. The walls were a relaxing cream color, and the bed, located at the far end of the room, had beige sheets. The small lamp on the bedside table gave a soft, sleepy glow. And, of course, in the bed was Hiromi, dozing peacefully.

Takao pulled a seat next to the bed. Next to him sat Max, and on the opposite side of the bed sat Rei and Kyouju. They kept quiet as they watched her sleep, her chest rising and falling in the steady rhythm of slumber.

Several more minutes passed in this manner, but none of them moved to wake her. They knew how important it was for the auburn-haired girl to rest. However, after around ten more minutes, something caused her to stir.

"Where-?" she began sleepily. She slowly turned her head to the side and saw Takao and Max looking at her. "Takao? Max?" She turned to the other side and saw Rei and Kyouju. Seeing her friends seemed to snap her awake, if barely. "What are you guys doing here?"

Takao smiled at her. "Well, we came to see you, Hiromi."

Rei smiled, too. "Yeah. We can't let you experience this alone."

"Besides, we wanted to see your and Kai's baby." Max added. He flashed his signature thumbs-up and grinned.

Hiromi nodded, smiling gratefully. "Thanks, guys. But…" she trailed off, yawning, "do you mind terribly if I ask you to leave? I'm…kind of tired…" and she yawned again.

"Sure, Hiromi, no problem." Kyouju said as he got up from his chair. "We just wanted to see if you were all right." He gestured to his companions, who followed his example.

"Well, we'll see you tomorrow, then," Takao said as a parting message. Hiromi nodded; already she was drifting back to sleep. Max closed the door softly.

Once outside, Takao asked, "Do you think they'll allow us to see the baby?"

"I'm not sure…" Kyouju replied. "I'll go ask." He approached the nurse's desk and conversed quietly with the nurse there. After a few moments, he came back, a broad grin on his face. "The head nurse says its okay."

The nurse Kyouju had talked with came up to them. "Follow me, please," she said, her voice soft and pleasant. The foursome followed obediently.

* * *

A/N: So...what do you guys think? Is it a girl or a boy? 3 Oh, I had such fun writing this chapter! I can't wait to post the next one -

Aki: Hikari? We, er...we have a problem.

Mei: What? Did the computer crash? I have the back-up disk...

Aki: Nope. Remember the rescued file for the next chapter? I did a file-check earlier; Chapter 4 and onwards is full of nonsensical scribbles...

Me: I get it sigh...Sorry, folks, but looks like there's going to be another long wait before the next update, since its apparent that the next few chapters for this story were corrupted beyond repair...But I'll do my best!

R&R, peepz! Dewa matta and God bless!


	5. Chapter 4: The Wielder of the Phoenix

A/N: Here you go! Chapter 4! Oh, and i revised it a bit to include translations for the Nihongo I put in here... Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade; it belongs to Aoki Takao and his compatriots...if that is the right term...

00000000000000000000000000

**Chapter 4: Wielder of The Phoenix**

"Here we are," the nurse said cheerfully as she stopped in front of a huge, glass-paneled window – the observer's window for the nursery.

"So, which one's Hiromi's?" Takao asked. He stepped closer to the glass and peered in. Everywhere he looked, there were bassinettes; some were holding infants while others were empty. Each baby looked to be asleep, but here and there, one would wake up and cry, the tiny face scrunching up into an agitated howl.

"_Koko ni o-matte kudasai,_" the nurse said, smiling. She hurried through a swinging double door to the group's right.

They waited. After around five minutes, the nurse they were with emerged in the nursery, dressed up in the proper uniform for dealing with babies. Though most of her face was hidden, they knew her immediately because of her glasses. Another nurse quickly joined her, and the pair made their way over to a crib only a few feet to the group's left. Max and the others quickly followed; they wanted to have a good look at Hiromi's baby.

Soon the nurses stopped in front of the crib. The baby was inside, bundled in a pink blanket. The nurse who had accompanied them carefully scooped up the child in her arms. She held the baby up for them to see; the child was relatively small in comparison to her companions in the nursery, but other than that, she seemed to be healthy enough. Her face was pleasantly round, her hands – or what they could see of them – were tiny and balled up into fists, and she had a cute little button nose.

"Aw…" Max cooed.

"She's adorable!" Kyouju exclaimed.

"She has Kai's hair…" Rei added, noting that the infant sported several wispy strands of soft slate-gray hair that would no doubt grow darker later in life.

"How do you know it's a girl?" Takao asked.

"Haven't you been paying attention?" Max asked, turning to glance at his friend quizzically. "The doctor we spoke to before we went to see Hiromi said that they've stabilized 'her'. Also in hospitals, there are only two colors used for babies' blankets: pink for girls, blue for boys. The blanket is pink."

"Oh, yeah…" Takao blushed, embarrassed. "Oops."

The group stood in silence after that, admiring the new 'addition' to their group.

"C'mon, let's go, guys." Kyouju urged after a few minutes. "We've taken up enough of the nurse's time."

"Yeah, guess you're right, Chief." Max said.

"Okay, but we have to come back tomorrow," Takao added as he turned away from the observation window.

On the other side, the nurse replaced the baby in her bassinette when she saw the visitors were about to leave. As soon as the child was back in her crib, her face wrinkled and she squirmed, as though she were about to cry. A split second later, the look of discomfort faded from her face, and she settled back into sleep.

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A smile spread slowly across his face as he watched her sleep. She was so tiny, and so fragile; sadly, he could not be there to protect both her and Hiromi.

Kai shook his head, as though to clear away the tears that suddenly sprang from his eyes. He reached out a hand and lightly brushed the wispy bangs from the infant's face.

"_Gomen na, akachan…_"he whispered. Normally, he wouldn't attach such a childish honorific to someone he was close to, but these were different circumstances. "If only things had gone differently…" He sighed heavily. "But I can't turn back time; no one can…"

And with another sigh, he was gone, back into eternity, where he was sure to be watching over them – Hiromi and their child.

In her bassinette, the baby awoke, as though sensing something she had grown accustomed to was missing. She glanced around frantically, not really focusing on anything; a moment later, her voice emerged in a full, deep-throated cry.

The night nurses came running, doing everything they could to soothe her. She calmed down soon enough, but couldn't go back to sleep immediately. It was as though she was waiting for something…something that would never come.

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"Oh, my goodness…!" Hiromi gasped, overwhelmed with joy. "I don't know what to say…"

The auburn-haired teen glanced around. Her house had been cleaned out quite a bit, and she could smell the telltale scents of freshly cooked food wafting from the kitchen. She and the baby had just been released from the hospital. Both Takao and Kyouju escorted her from there. Now Hiromi knew why Rei and Max hadn't been there; they were preparing a 'welcome home' party for her.

The infant glanced around and babbled happily.

"Aw…" Takao bent down and tickled her under the chin. "You're so adorable!"

Hiromi giggled. "Never thought I'd see you acting this way, Takao…" she commented as she sat down on the couch.

"Yeah, well…" the stormy-eyed teen looked embarrassed. "You know how kids are; they make you go gaga…"

"Hey, guys!" a pair of cheerful voices greeted them from the kitchen. Hiromi glanced up and smiled.

"Max! Rei! There you are!" she exclaimed. She motioned for her other two friends to join them in the living room, which they did.

Max sat down next to Hiromi. "So, any complications?" he asked, referring to the baby.

Hiromi shook her head, smiling. "Thankfully, there were none. I'm just glad she pulled through."

"Us, too." Rei said as he sat down opposite Max. He glanced at the tiny girl and stroked her chubby hand; the baby gurgled in delight and grabbed onto one of his fingers. "What's her name, anyway?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the baby.

"Well…I was thinking of calling her Aika," the ruby-eyed teen answered.

"That's a pretty name." Kyouju commented.

Hiromi merely smiled and nodded her thanks.

"Hey, guys!" Takao called from the dining room. He was already seated at the table. "Don't you think Hiromi ought to have some real food now?" he asked. "I'm sure the hospital food must have tasted awful, and besides, all this stuff Rei cooked will go to waste if you don't get your butts over here now!"

Hiromi giggled. "And here I thought you'd changed, Takao! But I was wrong; you still live for food..." she finished with a mock sigh.

"Hey! I'm a growing boy!" Takao protested, going along with her.

"That's what you say all the time…" Max said, rolling his eyes, but smiling good- naturedly. Nonetheless, he and Kyouju got up to join the brunette at the table.

Hiromi, too, got up, clutching Aika to her. Upon seeing the auburn-haired teen, Max got up and slid Hiromi's chair out for her; Hiromi smiled in gratitude, and then settled back.

_I guess life can be good even after you've lost someone you love…_ Hiromi thought contentedly as she glanced at her friends, who had been so helpful to her in the past few months. _And it can only get better…_

Aika, as though reading her mother's thoughts, cooed and gurgled cutely.

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"Aika, get back here!" Hiromi called, one hand on her hips. She sighed as she watched a tuft of slate-gray hair disappear around the hallway corner; she heard her child's trademark babbling.

_That girl…!_ Hiromi thought. _If she's _this_ fast while she's still crawling, how much faster will she be when she's walking?_

Slowly, she rounded the corner to see Aika settled on the floor, cooing happily as she awkwardly grasped a stuffed animal in each hand and made them 'dance' around – of course, she dropped an animal more than thrice, but this mattered little to the small girl.

Hiromi scooped her up. "Aika, you know that it's time for your bath, don't you?" she scolded lightly. "Why you keep running away – even though it is your favorite part of the day – I have no idea…" she sighed.

Aika, young as she was, sensed disapproval in her mother's voice. She looked up at the ruby-eyed teen – they both had ruby-red eyes, actually – and stuck out her bottom lip. Seeing this, Hiromi smiled.

"Oh, I can't stay mad at you!" she exclaimed in defeat. Taking the child in both her hands, she touched Aika's nose to her own and giggled. "You're just too darn cute!"

"Who's just too darn cute?" Max asked as he shut the door behind him. Hiromi looked up.

"Oh, hi, Max." she greeted, setting Aika down on the floor. "I was talking about Aika."

The blonde teen nodded in understanding. "Did I come at a bad time?" he asked as he sat down on one of the wooden chairs in the hallway.

Hiromi shook her head. "Oh, no. I was just getting Aika ready for her bath." She glanced around suddenly. "But…where is she?"

A loud squeal alerted both blonde and brunette to Aika's whereabouts. Quickly they made their way to source of the noise…

And found her about to climb into the tub.

Max blanched, while Hiromi swiftly scooped her up before she could accidentally drown herself.

"Aika-chan, you know you're supposed to wait for mommy…" Hiromi scolded lightly. Aika only babbled reply.

Hiromi turned to Max and smiled apologetically. "Max, do you mind waiting in the living room? I'm afraid I still have to attend to Aika…"

Max grinned. "No, of course not. After all, the baby comes first."

"Thanks, Max. I'll try to be with you as soon as I can." With that, the auburn-haired teen turned away and began to undress the little child.

Max made his way to the living room and sat down on the couch. He settled back onto the cushions and prepared to relax when he saw it.

The Dranzer MS lay on the table directly across the room. It looked to be in good condition, indicating that Hiromi had taken excellent care of it. But what was it doing out of her room?

"Uh, Hiromi?" Max called, wandering towards the downstairs bathroom. "Why is Dranzer out of your room?"

"Oh, that." Hiromi peeped out for a few seconds. She smiled wanly. "Aika somehow got a hold of that; I just found her playing with it this morning."

"Shall I put it back in your room for you?"

"No, thank you, Max. I'll do it later, while Aika's napping," came the reply. There was a sound of splashing water, a happy gurgle, another splash, and then… "Ack!"

"You okay?" Max asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but Aika just drenched me."

Max chuckled. "Something tells me Aika wants you to take baths with her."

"Not when I have a guest waiting for me in the living room!" Hiromi called, pretending to be shocked at the suggestion. "That's just rude!"

"Anyway, drenched or not, Hiromi, I suggest you carry on," Max replied. "I don't think cold water would work well for a baby's bath…"

There was another splash, and then another shriek. "Aika! Not again!"

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She was growing so fast…

The eyelids drifted half-closed, almost covering amethyst orbs in happiness as he watched the small child go about her 'daily business' – playing, giggling, drenching her mother, and generally having fun. He could already see her resemblance to himself.

What he didn't like was Aika's attraction to Dranzer; it wasn't really the blade itself, but what it represented. The sport, if ever she grew attracted to it, posed a threat to her young life.

It was, after all, what had finished him off…

_But…_he thought, a glimmer of hope flickering within. _But what if…she does start blading herself? What if things turn out differently for her, should she ever decide to do so?_

Deep in his heart, he wished it were so…

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_Kaze ga fuite aa itai kienai omoi… _

_Nani omotte kouka atsumete hitotsu…_

Hiromi sighed as she stared up at the ceiling. It was around ten in the evening, and Aika had finally fallen asleep.

_Nido to nai…nido to nai shiteru nan'te baka mitai… _

_Mujaki ni nan'te ara imeeji… _

The ruby-eyed teen herself couldn't sleep, and so she had gone downstairs and turned on the radio, merely to chase away the discomforting silence of the house.

It had been nearly a year and five months since Kai passed away, and she still wasn't used to not seeing him whenever Team BBA came over.

_Kitto sore wa owaranai…kitto sore wa owaranai… _

_Rai no mune kougase…sen no yume watare…_

_Juu wo mujin kakete te ni tsukamu sekai…_

_Kumo wa chigirete…hi ga mata ochitte…_

_Hitori no PAREEDO ga ugoki dasou…_

Using a finger, she gently wiped away the tears that suddenly sprang to her eyes; the memories threatened to overwhelm her.

_Moshimo ite shimau nara anata no kami o… _

_Ikai'nda sutte motto yuseau kotoba… _

She began taking slow, deep breaths in an attempt to control the emotions, but it didn't work. The tears began to flow.

_Wakaranai…wakaranaiau ware dake ja wakaranai…_

_Dakara motto fukaku shita…shita…_

"Why?" she asked aloud to no one in particular, her voice a strangled whisper. "Why did you have to go?" Her hands balled into fists, shaking with the emotions she felt.

_Iya nan'te yume mitai…iya nan'te yume mitai…_

_Rai no mune kougase…sen no yume watare_

_Juu wo mujin kakete meguriau kiseki…_

_Kumo wa chigirete…hi ga mata ochitte…_

_Futari no PAREEDO ga yozora ni tokete…_

And then she let it all out in a scream. "Why!" She shouted towards the stars, even though she couldn't see them through the ceiling of her home. "Why did you leave me – us – alone here? Didn't you know…that something…someone…had been born out of what we had!"

"Kimi wa hitori janai…"

A voice, a whisper so low that by all rights didn't exist, but exist it did, and as its remnants reached her ears, Hiromi turned around towards what she thought was its source, steeling herself for what she might find.

But there was nothing there.

_Then…why did…?_ The auburn-haired teen was puzzled now; she'd heard Kai's voice, whispering to her!

"Boku nara koko da…Hiromi…kimi no soba de…anata o mamoru'tte…zutto…"

There it was again! The same low, even tone, the same loving whisper. Was it…a dream?

Hiromi sat, dumbfounded, and after a few minutes wiped away the remaining traces of tears. Slowly she got up and went over to the spot from where she knew the voice emanated – and gasped when she got there. On the floor, shimmering softly, was a fiery red phoenix feather. Fresh tears welled up in her eyes as she picked it up; these tears were not born of sorrow, but of happiness. She knew for certain now that the slate-haired teen had visited her, though intangible and invisible; he'd been there nonetheless.

She was smiling as she turned off the radio and made her way upstairs. In fact, the peaceful smile remained on her face throughout the night.

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"Are you sure you don't mind watching her today, Takao?" Hiromi asked as she set Aika's bag – which contained her extra clothes, baby bottle, pacifier, and other essentials – down on the small, hard-backed chair. Beside her, Aika slowly glanced from side to side. The small girl – nine months old now and learning how to walk – sensed she was in a new place, because everything was so…bare, compared to the home she knew.

Takao poked his head from behind the _shouji_ – the traditional sliding screen found in Japanese homes – that separated the living room from the inner dojo, where it seemed the stormy-eyed teen had taken over his grandfather's 'job' as a kendo instructor – and he actually had some students signed up. "Of course I don't mind, Hiromi. There aren't any classes scheduled for today, so I'm pretty much free to take care of Aika…"

"_Arigatou,_" Hiromi said, bowing in the customary show of gratitude. "I'll come around to pick her up at about four this afternoon." To Aika, who was resting a hand on the wooden wall nearest to her to help keep her balanced, the ruby-eyed teen said, "Be good, sweetie," And, after a quick peck on the tiny girl's cheek – which earned a very cute giggle from the recipient – Hiromi was out the door.

Takao smiled and came out of the 'classroom'; he watched the slate-haired child toddle her way up the length of the room, using a nearby wall for support. Hiromi was right; she was fast!

He didn't know why he'd opened the dojo for business again, but he guessed it was partly to earn money – his grandfather was a bit too old to be teaching anyone – and also because he needed something to do other than train kids in Beyblading, a job he'd taken with the BBA a few months ago.

"Oof!" Went Aika – in a cute voice, of course – as she teetered backward onto her butt. Eyes wide with concern, Takao made his way over to his charge for the day.

"Aika?" he asked, peering at her closely. To his surprise, the small child just sat there, looking confused, and then slowly pushed herself up onto her feet for another attempt. And of she went, babbling as she did so.

"Well, she's a determined little sort…" the dark blue-haired teen muttered as he settled into a comfortable sitting position on the floor as he watched her.

"I'll say!"

Takao twisted his head around at the sound; there, in the door, stood Max and Rei. The steel-blue eyes lit up, and a smile spread across the teen's face.

"Hey, guys!" he greeted, getting up and making his way over to his friends. "What brings you here?"

"Well, we met Hiromi a few blocks up the street," Max replied, his trademark grin on his face, "and she said that she'd left Aika with you while she went to work."

"So we decided to drop by and see how the little Hiwatari kid was doing." Rei finished, also grinning.

"Well, as you can see, she's working her way up to running by herself…" Takao said, gesturing towards the girl, who was now at the opposite end of the room.

"We noticed," the blonde commented, half-laughing. "Well, we could have expected this; she is Kai's daughter, after all, so some of his, err…traits could have been passed on to her…"

"You have a point…" Takao said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he surveyed Aika's progress around the room. Then his eyes widened once more, and he stepped back. "Stupid me! I forgot…here, why don't you come in?"

"Thanks, bud…" Max replied, crossing the threshold. The neko-jin followed a second later. Once they were all in, the three settled themselves on the floor, content with watching the small girl.

After a few minutes…

"Hey, what does she want?" Max asked, stretching his neck as far as he could so he'd have a better view of what Aika was doing.

"Huh?" Takao twisted around to follow Max's gaze, and Rei leaned a bit to the side so he could see around Takao's body. The ruby-eyed toddler was tugging insistently on something that looked like it had gotten caught in the pocket of her 'baby bag'.

The stormy-eyed teen got up and then made his way over to the girl, scooping up both her and the bag before joining his companions on the floor. Aika cooed and flung her tiny arms around his neck – her version of a hug.

"Looks like you have a way with kids, Takao…" Rei said as Max chuckled; the scene was so cute!

"Yeah, whatever…Aika, how about you join Max, Rei and I right here?" The small girl blinked a few times, and then nodded her head, gurgling excitedly.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Takao then said, taking his seat and setting the baby girl in the space formed by him and his companions. "There you go!" and then he set the bag aside.

Aika pouted, and then began babbling again, reaching out for the bag.

"You want the bag?" Max asked, looking puzzled. Aika only babbled more intently.

"I think she wants what she was trying get a few moments ago…" Rei suggested, glancing towards the open pocket. "Maybe it's her pacifier or a toy."

"Well, she must be really observant, then, to know where Hiromi stashed it…" Takao said, grinning as he rummaged in the pocket for whatever it was that had caught the girl's attention. "Most kids her age don't-" Takao stopped short and blanched, something that wasn't lost on his friends.

"Uh, Takao? Are you okay?" Rei asked.

Takao nodded slowly. "I- I'm fine, Rei; I was just…shocked when I found this…" and he brought his hand out of the bag pocket.

Max's eyes widened. "Hey, that's Dranzer MS!" he said.

"Yeah, what's she doing with it?" Rei asked. Max had told him about his visit to Hiromi's around a month ago, when he found out from their auburn-haired friend that Aika had somehow gotten her hands on her father's Beyblade.

If Aika could understand her babysitters, she wasn't bothered by their comments. She held her hands out for the blade, cooing happily and grinning broadly.

"Well, it won't do any harm, I suppose…" Takao said, a small grin on his face as he handed the blade to her. "It's not like she's in front of a battle stadium right now…"

"Yeah, you're right…" Max said, smiling as well. Then he looked puzzled. "But…she has the blade now, so…why is she still pouting?"

"Beats me…"

"I think I know…" Rei replied; the neko-jin had taken the bag from Takao earlier and had rummaged in the pocket as well. He held up a familiar object.

"Okay, I can understand why she'd put the blade in there – she probably thought it would make a pretty toy or something – but why on earth would she put in a standard launcher, too?" Takao asked, thoroughly puzzled now.

"Hey!" Rei exclaimed as Aika grabbed the launcher – and ripcord – from his hands. "Aika, grabbing isn't good!"

The small girl, upon detecting the angry tone in one of her babysitters' voice, stuck out her bottom lip, looking apologetic. Rei had to grin at that one.

"Aw, geez…forget it, Aika." He said, as he lightly ruffled the girl's rather thick hair. "I'm sorry if I yelled at you; you're still a baby, after all…"

The small child giggled, and then returned to her 'toys'. She played around for a few minutes, poking the blade and launcher with the ripcord, which she grasped rather clumsily. And then…

"Holy smokes!" Max exclaimed, while Rei and Takao remained silent; the blonde had just uttered their sentiments as well. To their surprise, Aika had picked up – with some difficulty – the launcher and then slowly set the ripcord into its proper place, making happy little gurgles as she did so.

"Uh, Aika? What are you doing?" Takao asked, bending down slightly so his head was on level with the small girl's. Aika turned her head towards him, and then… "OW!" Takao exclaimed, rubbing his left eye. Aika giggled uproariously; she had no idea that she was the cause of the teen's discomfort, for when she turned, she had accidentally poked him in the eye with the ripcord.

Then, just as quickly as it had come, her interest in her father's blading equipment left her, and she toddled off towards the inner dojo.

"You okay?" Rei asked. He'd stayed with Takao while Max went off to see to it that Aika didn't get lost in the rather huge traditional house.

"Yeah, Rei, I'm fine; she isn't strong yet, so it wasn't a very painful poke…" the stormy-eyed teen replied.

"Whoa! Aika, be careful!" Came Max's voice from the inner dojo. There was a small, wooden thud as something hit the floor, then a muffled "Ouch..."

"Max?" Takao got up and made his way into the inner room, followed closely by Rei. The two teens broke into grins; on the floor lay Max, sprawled on his belly, while Aika was climbing onto the blonde's back, tugging slightly at his hair.

"What happened?" Rei asked, still grinning.

"I found Aika climbing onto the chair, and then the chair tipped over. I tried to catch her, but she'd already clambered off. The chair fell, and I tripped over that 'cause I hadn't exactly slowed down, plus, I'm still wearing my socks...I think she was trying to reach this picture frame, though..." the azure-eyed teen added as an afterthought, holding up the small wooden frame which had been lying on the floor.

"What picture is that?" Takao asked as he came closer for a better look. Rei, meanwhile, scooped Aika up off the floor. The stormy-eyed teen's jaw dropped. "Hey, this is the team photo from three years ago, when Hiromi first joined us!"

"Why would she be reaching for that?" Max asked, finally able to push himself up to a more comfortable sitting position.

"Beats me..." Takao said, plunking himself down on the floor beside his blonde friend. Rei followed suit, setting Aika onto the floor once more.

"Maybe she liked the way the light was reflecting off of it. It probably looked pretty to her from some angle..." Rei suggested, not noticing that Aika had gotten unsteadily to her feet and then toddled off.

"You could be right..." Takao said, getting up and returning the frame to its place on the oak table. "C'mon, Aika, I bet you're hungry now. I'll - Aika?" he stopped as he turned around, noticing finally that theircharge was no longer there. "Hey, where'd she go?"

"Huh?" Rei and Max looked nonplussed, and both gazed around. "She was just here a minute ago..." Rei continued, getting up. "Maybe..."

Suddenly, from the living room, there came a very low whirring sound, and then a giggle. All three teens raced towards the door at that.

"Don't tell me she-" Max began.

"Don't even say it!" Takao interrupted. He knew what his companions were thinking. The whirring sound was a familiar one, but as to what caused it, it was impossible given the circumstances.

"She did." Rei said suddenly. He'd reached the door before his two companions. There, on the floor, sat Aika, and before her, spinning quite slowly, but spinning nonetheless, was Kai's Dranzer MS.

"NO WAY!" Max burst forth, sapphire eyes wide with shock.

"How did she-?" Takao began, looking just as surprised as his friends. "She can't even grasp the launcher properly!"

"I think she just learned how..." Rei said, pointing. In between the tiny girl's feet lay Kai's launcher, and she grasped the ripcord with both her hands.

"But if she did use that launch technique, wouldn't she be lying flat on her back now?" Takao continued. Rei shrugged.

"Maybe she's got great balance. Besides, at the rate the blade is spinning, it wasn't a very strong launch..."

"True..." Max said, making his way over to Aika and squatting beside her. "You like playing with that, don't you?" he asked the slate-haired child. Aika turned her ruby eyes towards the blonde and babbled excitedly, a wide grin on her face.

"...pa..." she said suddenly, as though trying to explain her actions.

"Did she just say part of 'Papa'?" Rei asked, also sitting down near the small girl.

"Yeah, she did." Takao replied, joining his friends and completing the circle. "Well, she's an early developer..."

"Yeah..."

Slowly, the Beyblade ground to a halt and lay quite still in front of the child. Aika picked it up, babbled as though talkingto it, and then slowly nuzzled it close to her chest, her wide eyes fluttering closed. Takao instinctively reached out for her and picked her up, just in case she was going to fall asleep, which she did once her head lay on the dark blue-haired teen's shoulder.

"...now if that isn't the cutest thing I ever saw..." Max said, breaking into a grin. "I've just been thinking: what if Kai were like that as a tiny baby?"

The three were silent for a while, and then said in unison, "Nah!" For them, the thought was too ridiculous to comprehend; Kai and cute, babbling baby didn't quite fit together.

"What time did Hiromi say she'd pick Aika up?"

_So she _is_ getting attached to Dranzer..._ the slate-haired teen thought as he watched his child snuggle up to the beyblade. He could see the small, fiery wings associated to the phoenix surrounding the girl, covering her like a blanket as she fell asleep. _But her obvious prowess in blading..._

Amethyst orbs narrowed. _That's what worries me..._

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A/N: I'm sorry if you guys got a little confused back there. First off, the italicized Japanese words - in the scene with Hiromi in the living room - are from the song 'PARADE' by Chaba. It's the 12th closing theme for Naruto. I'm no great shakes at jotting down the lyrics just by listening to the song, so if any of you spot something wrong, tell me and I'll find time to edit this chapter.

Second, I can tell I lost you when it came to Aika's development as a child. My little brother was my reference point for her character, at least, until her 'babyhood' ends. He was only nine or ten months old when he tried to walk on his own, and at around the same time, tried mimicking the sounds we made around him, which, thankfully, weren't meaningless babbles.

Oh, and the translation for Kai's Japanese:

"Kimi wa hitori janai…" – _You are not alone…"_

"Boku nara koko da…etc…" – _"I'm here, Hiromi, beside you…protecting you…always…"_

For some strange reason, the 'add ruler' tool on the 'edit document' page wasn't working, so I had to make do with zeroes...

Okay, thanks for reading! R&R now, if you please...Dewa mata and God bless! Peace out!


	6. Chapter 5: Bringing Up the Past

A/N: Yay! Next chapter! Ahehe...

Disclaimer:...nope.

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**Chapter 5: Bringing up the Past**

"Aika!" 22-year-old Hiromi – rather matured now – half-shouted when she spotted her daughter trying to sneak past her and out the back door. "What did I tell you about touching those?"

"Huh?" The ruby-eyed toddler put on an innocent look. "Touching what, Mommy?" She shuffled a bit, and then stood quite still, her hands behind her back. Aika was five years old now; she'd lost some of her baby fat, her face was less round, and her hair was longer and a bit thicker now. She wore it now in two braids that seemed to sprout from the sides of her head, and, paired with the pleated skirt and pink shirt he had on, the overall image _was_ innocent and playful, but Hiromi knew what went on in the child's mind.

"Let me see…" the auburn-haired young woman held her hand out, indicating Aika was to do the same, too. The small girl heaved a big, fake sigh and held out her hands. In one, she held Kai's standard launcher, and in the other, she clutched the Dranzer MS – the 'toy' she'd been fascinated with ever since her babyhood. Hiromi frowned, and then gently grabbed her daughter's wrist, pulling her out of the kitchen and into the living room.

"How many times have I told you not to play with those things?" Hiromi asked as she set the child down on the couch.

"Um…a gazillion?"

Hiromi shook her head. "There's no such thing as a 'gazillion', Aika-_chan_…" she said, sitting down beside the girl and gently taking the launcher and blade away.

"Mama, tell me about you and Papa. Please?"

Hiromi glanced at the small child and smiled a small smile; the pouting face was too cute and innocent to ignore. "Very well…" she sighed, picking up the girl and settling her in her lap. "Hmm…where should I start?"

"How 'bout…when you first met?" Aika suggested, swinging her small legs excitedly.

"All right…it was around six years ago when I first met your father." She laughed gently. "He was so different back then! Wouldn't you know, when I first introduced myself, he didn't even say hello; he just walked right past me!" Here she shrugged nonchalantly. "I thought he was a jerk then. Later on, we – your father, Rei, Max, Takao, Kyouju, and I – were kidnapped and taken to this island out in the middle of nowhere. We split up into two groups; your father went with your Uncle Kyouju and me. Then, we were on our way to this lighthouse when, all of a sudden, there was a _huge_ rock fall. I thought we were going to be squashed flat, but your dad pushed me and Kyouju against the face of the mountain path we were walking, and stood in front of us like this-" here the auburn-haired young woman got up and reenacted the scene – "Acting as a shield against any stray rocks that would come our way."

"Did he get hurt?"

Hiromi shook her head. "Fortunately, he wasn't. It was then that I got to know the kind person he hid inside – he saved me twice that year. He wasn't very…open with others because he had a bad past, so whenever he'd tell me something, even if it were only minor stuff, it was kind of special. Anyway, through that first year together, we grew closer, you could say. And then, a year before you were born, he proposed to me. We were the only ones in the hotel room that time. Of course I said 'yes', and a few weeks later, we were married. It wasn't even a month after that that he…" the ruby-eyed young adult trailed off, her gaze settling on the blade and launcher that lay on the couch. Aika noticed this.

"Why don't you want me playing with those, Mama?"

Hiromi sighed. "They…bring back bad memories…"

"But how come?" Aika continued. "They're so shiny and the round top thingy looks so purdy! How can it be a bad mem'ry?"

The ruby-eyed mother had to smile at her child's mispronunciation of some of her words. "Well, I told you already, remember? They remind me…of your father."

"If they remind you of Papa, then they can't be bad, right? I heard Unca Rei say that the two of you seemed happy together…"

The young woman gathered Aika close in a hug, sighing as she did so. "Yes, I was happy with your father, but that Beyblade-"

"What's a 'Bleyblade'?" Aika interrupted, looking puzzled.

"The top thing you like playing with so much," Hiromi replied. "_That's_ a Beyblade."

"Oh, okay…what were you saying, Mommy?"

"I said, that Beyblade also reminds me of how your father…" Hiromi trailed off, unable to finish.

"How Daddy died?" Aika asked after some time. Somehow, she could tell what her mother wanted to say, and she could feel the sadness in the way the young woman held her.

Hiromi nodded. "But he was a good blader – that's what you call those people who indulge in the sport of Beyblading."

"You mean the bey thingy is a real sport?"

"Yes, it is, and your father was very good at it. In fact, he was the captain of Team BBA, the team your Uncles Rei, Takao, Max, and Kyouju once belonged to."

"Wow! Papa was a team cap'n? Then he must be _really_ good!"

"I suppose so…"

Both mother and child were silent for a while, and then Aika spoke up again. "So, if Papa was so good, then that means I should be good at it, too…" the young girl mused. "I still don't understand, Mama; how come you said that Daddy died from playing with the Beyblade. Did he swallow it and it got stuck in his throat?"

"No…I'm afraid it's a lot more complicated than that, Aika."

"What's 'compicated'?"

"The word is 'complicated', and it means 'not simple'."

"So what happened to Papa?"

"Well, he and his friends were trying to defeat a team called BEGA. Their leader was an evil man. They had defeated him a few years back, and this man – his name was Balkov – wanted revenge.

"Your father was against a young man his age, whose name was Brooklyn. Your dad managed to defeat his opponent, but in order to gather enough power for his bit beast to use for attacking – I'll explain what a bit beast is later – Kai, your dad, sort of used his remaining 'life force'. Brooklyn's bit beast, a dark one named Zeus, had already absorbed most of your dad's energy, I guess. After your Uncle Takao's battle – still against Brooklyn – we were on the way to the back room when we found your father slumped against the wall. We thought he was just unconscious, but…"

"He was _dead_?" Aika's ruby eyes were wide now. She didn't understand half of what her mother had just told her – she _was_ only four – but from what she _could_ understand, it _had_ been a Beyblade that was partially responsible for her father's death. Her lower trip started to tremble. "I hate him…" she muttered in a shaky voice.

"Hate who, sweetie?" Hiromi asked, half-shocked that the small girl had said such a thing.

"Mr. Brooklyn, the one who made Daddy dead, that's who!" she said, garnet eyes threatening to spill over with angry tears. "If he didn't kill him, then we'd be an even happier family than if there were only the two of us!"

"Oh, Aika, I don't want you to feel that way about anyone…" Hiromi admonished quietly, giving the girl another hug. "It's not right to hate anyone, even if they did something bad to you or to someone you love."

"But-"

"I want you to promise me, Aika," Hiromi interrupted, looking deep into her child's eyes, "that you will not touch your father's blading things again."

Aika nodded. "I promise, Mama. I'll go put these back in your room now…"

"You do that…" Hiromi smiled as she watched the toddler slowly make her way towards the stairs and begin to climb. The girl's initial anger and 'hate' towards Brooklyn – even if she never saw him – seemed to have dissipated because she was humming 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' as she mounted to stairs.

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"Mama, can I ask a question?"

Hiromi looked up when Aika called her attention. So did everyone else. Hiromi and Aika had gone to Takao's house for dinner. It was a practice they formed ever since Aika was a year old: they would gather at someone's house once a month for a get-together. The auburn-haired woman smiled. "Of course! What is is, Aika-_chan_?"

Aika shuffled in her seat and played with her chopsticks for a while; she looked like she was having a hard time deciding whether or not to ask. Especially since all everyone – Takao, Max, Rei, and Kyouju – was looking at her. Finally, curiosity won, and she looked up. "Um…was Papa's bit beast a big red bird?"

Takao nearly dropped his chopsticks in shock, and he choked. Max patted his back, trying to help expel whatever it was that had gotten stuck

"How…how did you know that?" Hiromi asked, eyes wide.

"You mean…Dranzer was a birdie?" Aika cocked her head.

"Yes, dear, Dranzer was – no, _is_ a large red bird. A phoenix, to be exact. Why do you ask?"

"'Cause I saw a big red bird in my dream last night, and then a while ago, before we came here and when I was returning the Beyblade stuff, I saw it again! It looked at me real funny, as though it were telling me something…"

"You dreamed of Dranzer?" Hiromi was shocked once more. "How long have you been having dreams about her? And you _saw_ her?"

"Only last night…I don't know if I'm going to dream _or_ see her again…" Aika reached for her cup and took a sip of water, then hopped down from her chair. "I'm goin' to go play now. Okay, Mommy?"

Hiromi nodded absentmindedly, and the slate-haired girl skipped off to her playroom. Everyone was silent, and then…

"Do any of you think she made that up?" Rei asked, setting his chopsticks down on the table.

"I'm not sure…" Takao replied, looking at his plate. "It's possible, though…

"Yeah, but don't you think it's too coincidental?" Max added. "I mean, what are the odds that she'd decide to pretend she saw a bit beast and that it would be a big red bird?"

"I agree," Kyouju spoke up. "It's too improbable that she'd come up with such a thing on the spur of the moment…"

"But what do you think it means?" Hiromi asked, looking worried.

"This is what I think," Kyouju answered after a rather uncomfortable silence. "We all know that a bit beast somehow chooses its master, right?" Everyone nodded, indicating to the bespectacled researcher (yes, until now, Kyouju stuck to researching and gathering data) to continue. "Well, it could mean that Dranzer has chosen her new master, one from her previous master's bloodline."

"_What_?" Hiromi stood up, causing her chair to slide noisily over the floor for a few centimeters. "That's impossible! Aika's just _five_! How can she be Dranzer's new master? I don't think she can even launch a Beyblade yet!"

"Um…" Takao broke in, looking sheepish. "There's just something we, err…neglected to tell you, Hiromi…

"Remember the day you left Aika with Takao, and when you came back, Kai's blade and launcher were on the floor and we said Aika had tried to play with them? The thing is…" the stormy-eyed young man took a deep breath, then continued. "A few hours before that, Aika had, erm…sort of launched the Dranzer MS…"

Ruby orbs grew wide, and Hiromi sank back into her chair. "But…if that happened…then that means…"

Kyouju nodded. "Yes. Kai's intuitive prowess with Beyblading was somehow passed on to Aika, and now that she's proven herself worthy of the bit beast, Dranzer has chosen _her_ to wield it."

"But…but she's so young! What would happen to her if she engaged in a tournament at such a young age?"

Takao rested his hand on the young woman's shoulder. "Calm down, Hiromi; there aren't any tournaments for Beyblading yet. The BBA is still testing the waters, trying to see how people will react if such an event were to take place again."

"Besides, this is all speculation," Kyouju added, grinning at the ruby-eyed mother reassuringly. "It could mean something entirely different, such as…"

"Kai's spirit trying to make contact with Aika, in the form of Dranzer," Max ventured, smiling. "I read somewhere that some souls do that, trying to reach a loved with through a form of something close to the deceased person before he or she died."

"Max has a point," Rei said, nodding his head. "Kai _was_ pretty close to Dranzer; maybe he's trying to reach Aika through that form because Aika's never seen him, so if he were to speak to her in his true form, she won't recognize him or something…"

"I guess…" Hiromi said slowly, drawing a deep breath. "I'm sorry if I got carried away; I just don't want anyone close to get hurt because of that sport again…"

"It's okay, Hiromi; we understand." Max smiled, and then stood up to bring his plate to the sink. "Oh, yeah, Rei, it's your turn to do the dishes, right?"

The neko-jin nodded. "Yup! Thanks for reminding me, Max."

"You're welcome," the blonde stepped aside to make way for the raven-haired man to bring everyone else's dishes to the sink so he – Rei – could begin cleaning them.

There was no other noise save the quiet running of the water into the sink, and then Takao spoke up.

"So…what do you guys say to making tonight a movie night?"

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A/N: UWAEEEH! Gomen, minna! I know it's kinda short, but my mind went blank after I typed this part up. I wanted to go directly into the next thing I had planned, but that wasn't supposed to come until Chapter Six or Seven, so I had to cut it short! Mou ichido, gomenasai...

Anyway, I hope you weren't too put off by the shortness of this chapter...Thanks in advance for R&Ring! Dewa mata! Peace out and God bless!


	7. Chapter 6: Mitsuketa

A/N: I sincerely apologize for the delay in updates. I quite forgot that I had this story up, and kind of neglected it for the past week... ; Sorry everyone!

Disclaimer - Aki: Since Mei isn't here...Hikari doesn't own Bakuten Shoot Beyblade G-Revolution. It belongs to Aoki Takao, Shogakukan, d-Rights, and Takara Beyblade Project.

Me: You don't have to be so thorough...Yeesh...Anyway, minna, enjoy the chapter!

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**Chapter 6: Mitsuketa**

"Aika!"

The eleven-year-old girl turned to face whoever was calling her, and then smiled brightly and waved. "Fumiko-_chan_! Naoki-_kun_!"

The light brown-haired girl - Fumiko - waved too as she ran up to her friend; the black-haired boy - Naoki - just waved, but didn't seem to be in a hurry to join the two girls. Both of Aika's companions had green eyes, only Fumiko's seemed a darker shade.

"What are the two of you doing so early in school?" Aika asked as soon as Naoki had caught up with her and Fumiko.

The other girl pouted. "Well, my older sister set my alarm clock forward an hour, so when I got up, I thought I was going to be super late…"

"And then _she_ woke _me_ up, shrieking about being scolded by the principal or some other authority for being astoundingly tardy today…" Naoki finished. "Seriously, Aika, you're lucky to be an only child; living with two sisters can be _hell_ sometimes…"

The slate-haired girl frowned slightly. "Don't be like that, Naoki-_kun_. After all, you never know just how precious something is until you lose it; only then will you wish it hadn't been taken from you."

The twins blinked in surprise. "That's…very mature for our age, don't you think, Aika?" Fumiko asked, looking worried. Their friend had never spoken in this way before. "Is something…wrong?"

Ruby eyes widened, and then Aika smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry; I just remembered something a friend of my mom's said before. Also, BEGA's tenth anniversary is coming up..."

Naoki nodded to show he understood. When he and his twin had first become friends with the slightly withdrawn Tachibana Aika, they had tried to get her interested in Beyblades - a hobby that was making a steady comeback. Unfortunately, the slate-haired girl had declined to join them in their afternoon play sessions. She said that it reminded her too much of her father, but gave no further explanation. That didn't bother Fumiko and Naoki, however; they still spent time with her doing things that had nothing to do with Beyblading.

All were silent for a while, not sure on how to break the silence without triggering an adverse reaction. Fumiko did it, finally. "Uh, guys? How about we go into the classroom now? It will probably be more comfortable if we chat there."

Aika grinned, and then grabbed both of her friends' wrists. "Why not? C'mon, let's go! Besides, it's getting warm out here!" With that, she started sprinting towards the school steps, dragging her companions with her.

"A-Aika, sl-slow down!"

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"Aika, I'm home!" 28-year-old Hiromi called as she dropped her slim briefcase on the couch in the living room. She waited for several moments, but there was no reply to her statement.

_Strange…_the auburn-haired woman thought. It was already half past four, and her child was usually home at around four, being only in elementary school.

"Where could she be?" Hiromi wondered as she wandered up the stairs. "Maybe she's listening to her Mp3 player and the volume's up high…or-" she stopped short when she passed her own room and did a double take. There, seated on the bed, was Aika, and she was surrounded by a mysterious red aura.

"A-Aika?" Hiromi called hesitantly, taking a small step forward into the room. The slate-haired girl didn't hear her mother's call, however; she seemed wrapped up in another conversation.

"Y-You're saying that I should continue what my father started?" the young girl asked. Hiromi took a step further into the room, and then gasped when she saw that no one else was there besides her and her daughter! Who was Aika talking to?

"Aika! What…what's going on?" The red brown-haired woman called frantically. She'd never seen this happen before, especially not to her own daughter! Aika, however, didn't seem to hear anything.

"But…I don't even know where to begin!" the ruby-eyed girl was saying. "I don't even know _who_ my father was, except that he died in a Beybattle! How can I - what?" Aika's eyes flew open, and the red aura disappeared, vanished without a trace. Mother and daughter locked gazes.

"Mom?"

Hiromi rushed forward, grabbing the girl by the shoulders. "Aika, what happened? Who were you speaking with? Are you all right?" The questions poured out of the young woman, one flowing into the next like a stream, that the slate-haired girl only blinked, forcing herself to comprehend her mother's words.

Finally, understanding dawned on her, and she smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine, Mama. And as for what happened, I'm not really sure. I was on my way to my room earlier when a red light flashed from this one. I went in because I was curious, and then I saw that the light was coming from the drawer where you keep Dad's Beyblade. I opened the drawer and then suddenly I found myself floating in some kind of parallel dimension. There were flames everywhere, leaping and blazing all around, but I wasn't getting burned. And then someone started talking to me, so I answered her. I couldn't see her, but I could tell it was a girl, and for some reason I thought I could recognize the voice.

"The voice said that I had to 'continue' what Dad started - his legacy, she said. To be more specific, a legacy in Beyblading. And then she ended by saying that I would know who my dad was - at the same time, discover this 'thing' that he'd left for me - if I visited Uncle Max's hobby shop tomorrow after school."

Hiromi frowned, trying to digest this 'information', and then she laid a hand on Aika's forehead. "Are you sure you didn't eat anything bad today? You might be getting indigestion or a fever, and as a result you may be having hallucinations…"

"Mom!" Aika protested laughingly. "You know I know better than to eat expired food or experiment with eating and stuff! And I was serious about what I said earlier; I'm not making up anything in it." Here she gestured towards the small side-table next to Hiromi's bed. "See? Your table drawer is open."

"I can see that…" Hiromi answered. She heaved a sigh. "Well, I guess we'll know that you weren't seeing or hearing things when you go to Max's shop tomorrow. Tell me what happens, okay?"

"Okay, Mom." Aika smiled, and then made her way over to the door and out into the hallway. "I'll go do my homework now!"

"Make sure you finish early!" Hiromi called after her daughter. "We're going to the movies tonight, remember?"

"Yeah, I know!" Aika called back, just before she shut the door to her room.

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"Aika, wait up!" Fumiko called, nearly tripping over her own shoes and crashing down onto the pavement.

"Yeah! What _is_ is with you?" Naoki called, huffing and puffing as he fought to keep up. "I mean, what's with your-"

"-Sudden interest-"

"-In a Beyblade hobby shop?" The twins looked at each other and chuckled when they realized they had just completed each other's sentences, something they hadn't done for a long time now.

Aika stopped at the ginko tree a few feet ahead, turned, and waved at her friends. "C'mon, guys, pick up the pace!" She rested against the tree trunk, panting quietly, as she waited for her friends to catch up.

_C'mon...hurry up!_ she thought irritably, replaying the events from the day before. _I want - I _need_ to know..._

Presently, Fumiko and Naoki came to a stop in front of Aika, within seconds from each other. "Aika...couldn't you have...slowed down...a bit?" The brown-haired girl asked in between gasps. Her brother ran the back of his hand over his forehead as he straightened up. He, too, was gasping, but not as much as Fumiko.

"Yeah. And why do you want to go to a hobby shop so badly?" he added.

"Well, I..." The slate-haired teen trailed off, groping for words. She couldn't tell her friends exactly what had happened the night before; chances are, they wouldn't believe her. She took a deep breath and started over. "Something happened last night that had to do with my mom's friend's hobby shop, so I want to go check it out."

"Which one?" Fumiko asked. She'd gotten her breath back now, and stood straight like her brother. "There are dozens of hobby shops here in Tokyo, and if you don't know the name-"

"Don't worry, I already know what it's called; I just want you guys to show me the way there."

"But if he's your mom's friend, then...don't you already know where it is?" Naoki scratched the back of his ear, one dark eyebrow up in confusion.

"I've been to his house, but it's rather far from his shop." Aika answered. She leaned over, picked up her backpack, and slung it over her shoulders. "The hobby shop carries his famiily name: Mizuhara."

Both Naoki and Fumiko looked aghast. "Your mom _knows_ Mizuhara Max of Team BBA?"

Aika nodded. "They've been friends for as long as I can remember, along with Uncle Kyouju, Uncle Rei, and Uncle Takao; I practically grew up with them." The ruby-eyed girl smiled, shrugged, and then took a step forward, only to be blocked by her male companion. Naoki held up both hands like stop signs.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hang on." he said, slightly waving his hands for emphasis. "You're saying you spent your whole life _with_ the members of Team BBA?"

"Yeah."

In unison, the twins exclaimed "That is _so_ COOL!"

"Those guys were the World Champion team for three years running!" Fumiko added.

"It's just too bad, though, that their captain, Hiwatari Kai, died soon after his match..." Naoki muttered. "He was one of the best, I heard."

"Yeah, too bad..." his twin agreed. "His Dranzer disappeared that day, too."

"No, she didn't." Aika cut in.

"Huh? How do you know that?" the dark-haired boy asked. "Our uncle was one of the medics who brought him to the hospital, and according to him no one found any trace of Hiwatari-_shi_'s Beyblade or bit chip."

"And that usually means the bit beast is gone, as well," the emerald-eyed girl added.

"But Dranzer _isn't_ gone," Aika insisted. She took a deep breath. "My mom has the blade at home, in her nighttable drawer, and-"

"Did you just say your mom has Team BBA's captain's blade?" Fumiko blurted, emerald eyes wide. Aika nodded, and her friend's eyes grew wider, if that was at all possible. "But that's _impossible_!"

"How come?" Aika wanted to know. For reasons unknown, her heart had started thudding in her chest, so loud and fast that she almost wondered why no one could hear it.

"Well, we've heard rumors that the only one Hiwatari-_shi_ would allow to touch his blade - aside from Kyouju-_shi_ and Kinomiya-_shi_, of course - was the girl who started going with them since their second year together as a team."

"Wait..." Aiki interrupted. "Did this girl have eyes that looked something like mine, and dark brown hair past her shoulders that turned up at the ends?" She said this all slowly, trying to prolong the answer she somehow knew would come.

"Yes!" Naoki exclaimed. "That's her exactly! But how could you know? I thought you didn't like Beyblading, so how did-"

Aika shook the question away with a wave of her hand. She was close now, and she felt an unknown emotion bubbling up in her chest. "Was her name ever mentioned?"

"Yeah." The jade-eyed child nodded, hands in his trouser pockets. "Her name was-"

"Tachibana Hiromi." Aika finished. Even before he had opened his mouth to speak, she knew. She could feel it, feel the knowledge coursing from the unknown recesses of her mind and down into her heart, lodging there firmly until all uncertainty was gone.

Once more, her friends were agape with astonishment. "You...you..." Fumiko fumbled for words, but Aika put a finger to her friend's lips, quieting her immediately. The slate-haired girl gave a small, gentle smile.

"Thanks, guys. For helping me find what I was looking for."

"Um...you're welcome, Aika," Fumiko began, rather awkwardly. "But...but what..."

"You helped me find my dad, and in the process, who I was and who I can be." With that, the ruby-eyed girl turned and ran off, heading for the familiar surroundings of home.

For a time, Fumiko and Naoki just stood there, in the comforting shade of the ginko, stunned speechless at the words their friend had uttered.

Slowly, comprehension dawned, but each could scarce believe. They glanced towards each other, seeking - and finding - confirmation in the other's eyes. And it was then that the full force of their realization hit them hardest, causing them to gasp loudly.

"NO WAY!"

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A/N: Er, yeah, just to clear up things a bit. The suffix '-shi' is used in Japan as an honorific for someone higher than the speaker, but who is not among those spoken to.At least, that's what I learned from reading 'Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch'...

I think that's all I have to clear up for you guys...Tell me if there's something else that's confusing you, okay? I'll try to reply as soon as I can.

Aki: Just don't go into a long-winded explanation...

Me: Shut up. Okay, minna, dewa mata! Peace out and God bless!


	8. Chapter 7: Resemblance

A/N: Hmm...pretty quick update, ne? Let's just say the closer a chapter is to the epilogue, the faster it get's posted...that's just me, though. I wanna reveal the ending already! 3

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own it. It belongs to Aoki Takao-sensei, Shogakukan, TV Tokyo, d-Rights, and Takara Beyblade Project. (My gosh, I memorized the companies with at least partial ownership of this thing... O.o)

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**Chapter 7: Resemblance**

"So, Aika, how did your visit to Max's shop turn out?" Hiromi asked, laying down her chopsticks for a while. She, Aika, and the members of Team BBA were at Rei's house for their monthly group dinner - a habit that was hard to break. It was around halfway through the meal that Hiromi remembered the events of the night before.

Max looked up, chopsticks half-way to his mouth. "Aika was at the shop? When?"

The auburn-haired woman looked puzzled. "She said she was going earlier this afternoon." She turned to her daughter. "Aika, did you or did you not go to the hobby shop earlier today?"

Aika put down her rice bowl and glanced at her lap. She began fidgeting in her seat, her stomach feeling like it was filled with billions of butterflies, flying and bouncing around. "Um...sort of. I just passed by this afternoon; there were a lot of people, mostly kids my age and a few older ones. But I _did_ learn what I wanted to."

"Oh?" Rei looked interested. "And what was that, Aika-_chan_."

"I learned..." Aika trailed off, not quite sure how to put it. After a few moments' silence, she took a deep breath and started over. "I found that...I want to participate in the upcoming Beyblade tournament."

For a few minutes, there was a stunned silence. And then...

"You _WHAT_?" All five adults - Hiromi, Rei, Max, Takao, and Kyouju blurted in unison."How...how'd you know there was an upcoming tournament?" Kyouju asked.

"I saw the flyer on a lamppost outside Uncle Max's shop." Aika answered.

"Aika, you _know_ I've told you time and time again not to even _think_ about Beyblading!" Hiromi fairly shrieked. At that moment, she was having flashbacks of Kai's last battle, the last time she - or anyone else, for that matter - saw the slate-haired blader alive. And the old feeling, half anger, half fear, was encroaching her heart.

"Whoa, whoa." Rei interrupted. "Hiromi, I don't think you should get mad just yet. We have to know why Aika suddenly wants to do this, and what changed her mind." He turned to the slate-haired child, smiling. "So, Aika, any um...special reasons why you'd want to enter the tournament?"

"Because if I don't..." the ruby-eyed girl took another deep breath. "Then the Hiwatari legacy could be at an end. At least, that's what Dranzer told me."

Max went wide-eyed, choked, and coughed. "Hang on...Dranzer actually _spoke_ to you?"

Aika nodded. "Last night. That's why I wanted to go to your shop, Uncle Max, to see if what she said was true: I would learn the truth, she said, if I went. And I did."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute..." Takao cut in as he processed what he had just heard. "You just said 'Hiwatari'. Where'd you hear that name?"

"Well, that's supposed to be my family name, isn't it?"

"So you found out..." Hiromi said slowly.

Aika smiled, then reached for her mother's hand and held it in her smaller one. "Don't worry, Mom; I'm not mad. Dranzer told me why you did that; you didn't want me to get hurt, somehow, if someone mentioned Dad's name and linked it to me. Also, you didn't want to be reminded, to some extent, right?"

"I wonder how Dranzer knows all this..." Max whispered, leaning over to Takao, who nodded in agreement.

"Mom, please, at least let me try," Aika was asking.

"Aika, you don't know how dangerous a sport it's become!" Hiromi replied, standing up from her seat. She looked half-scared now as the images from Kai and Brooklyn's battle flew through her head, faster and faster. "It's just as deadly to the blader as it is to the bit beast; you could _die_!"

"I won't, Mom!" Aika shot back, also standing up. "Don't you see-"

"How can you know that? Aika-"

"-It's the only way I can get to know Dad better!"

All activity in the room stopped; an uncomfortable silence descended. Hiromi sank back into her chair.

"I...I never thought about that..." she half-whispered."I never knew..."

"Why didn't we think of it that way?" Rei looked guilty. He'd been the first among his teammates to form what resembled a close friendship with Kai, and he had failed to see that what they had prevented the young Hiwatari from doing _was_ the one medium through which father and child could connect.

"That _does_ change things..." Kyouju muttered.

Aika sat down, too. "I...I'm sorry for bursting out like that..." She said quietly, her eyes obscured by her bangs. "I...I..."

Hiromi came over and enfolded the young girl in a hug. "It's all right, Aika. You've nothing to apologize for. _I _should be the one who's sorry; I never knew that was how you felt about Beyblading." She pulled away a little, looked her daughter in the eye, and gave a small smile. "Forgive me?"

Aika smiled back, then hugged Hiromi back. "Always."

"Say, Aika?" Takao interrupted hesitantly. Both girls broke the second embrace, and Aika glanced up at the stormy-eyed male.

"Yes?"

"Uh...well...you want to enter the tournament, right? You might need a trainer, since you're still new to the game, so I thought I'd volunteer."

"Hey, I wanted to train her, too!" Max piped up. "I've felt like that ever since I saw her launch Dranzer when she was a toddler."

"Me, too!" Rei added, his amber eyes lighting up with the excitement of having someone new to train.

"You can _all_ train her," Kyouju pointed out. "Remember, Kai's style emphasized a balance, more or less, between attack, defense, and speed. Dranzer was built according to those specifics, so it will take all three of you to help Aika reach that."

"No problem!"

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"You ready, Aika?" Takao called, gripping the ripcord tightly. Across from him, Aika nodded, moving into a launch position.

"_Hai_!"

It was nearly five months after Aika announced her decision to join the first Beyblade tournament in nearly ten years. When they first started the training program, it had been only on the weekends, but, as summer break hit, Aika urged that they take advantage of the free time, so they had sessions every day. These were held at the Kinomiya dojo; everyone agreed it was the best place to train the daughter of their former captain, seeing as it was where _they_ had trained, as well.

That day, the slate-haired girl had asked to battle her trainers, as a method of measuring her prowess. Takao, Max, and Rei were happy to comply.

"Video apparatus ready to go, Takao!" Kyouju called from the sidelines, his signature laptop propped up on the table to get a better view of the practice match. He was going to record all three matches - this was the last one - so that they could go over them together, and then inform Aika of anything she had to improve.

"All right...3...2...1..."

"GO, SHOOT!" Aika finished, pulling hard on the ripcord. The Dranzer MS shot forward from the launcher and into the dish, spinning in lazy circles before suddenly launching a barrage of attacks on Takao's Dragoon MS.

"Wha-? Hey!" the stormy-eyed man exclaimed, surprised.

Surprisingly, Aika's response was to smirk, and for a moment, everyone in the room - the members of Team BBA, Kyouju, and Hiromi - thought they were seeing Kai again. The spell was broken, though, when the young girl spoke. "What's the matter, Uncle Takao?" she asked laughingly. "You said this was a practice match, but that's no reason to go easy on me,"

Takao chuckled, and then turned his gaze back to the dish. "You're right, Aika," to his blade, he said, "All right, Dragoon! Let 'er have it!"

In response, the white and green blade began to counterattack the dark blue one, but neither seemed to be affected by the other's efforts.

"Dranzer, Flame Barrage!" Aika commanded. The blade moved quickly, shifting from side to side to distract the Dragoon blade, and then circling the dish a few times before screaming down towards it's opponent and knocking it aside.

"Ah! No, Dragoon! Counter it!" Takao called. Surprise, confusion, and delight bubbled up in his chest at this unexpected turn of events. _She's only been training for five months, but she can already hold her own!_ he thought, his steel-blue orbs narrowing. And then they widened. "_WHAT_?"

In the practice dish, both blades had ground to a halt, Dranzer MS coming to rest directly in the center. Aika bent forward to pick it up, and then glanced back up at her trainer and smiled. Takao held out a hand.

"Nice match, Aika. You've made impressive progress in such a short time! It takes a lot of skill to draw with the all three members of the World Championship team," he said, grinning widely.

"Thanks," the ruby-eyed teen took her uncle's hand and shook it. At that moment, Hiromi came over.

"Oh, Aika, I'm so proud of you!" she exclaimed, enfolding the girl in a hug. "And I'm sure your father is, too." Hiromi's attitude towards Aika's training had changed gradually; at first, though she had agreed, she was reluctant and sometimes didn't come to see her Aika train. But, over time, she began visiting during training sessions more frequently, and then had become fully supportive of her daughter's ambition, something Team BBA was happy about.

"Thanks, Mama," Aika replied, pulling back and smiling at her mother.

"Okay, Aika, I think we've figured it out," Kyouju called. He, Takao, Max, and Rei were gathered at the table and had apparently just finished watching the recorded matches. Aika ran over.

"What is it? What did I do wrong?"

"Okay, first, during your match with Max," the researcher began, pressing something and winding the record back a few seconds. "See here? You weren't too fixed on your decision to attack and, as a result, nearly got knocked out."

"Oh, okay, I see...Anything else?"

Hiromi smiled. It was heartening to the young girl so attentive and open to constructive criticism, at the same time bonding with family friends. Perhaps she _had_ been hasty in banning her daughter from Beyblading. As it was, she could see in Aika some of the traits Kai had possessed - determination and a fighting spirit were the most apparent.

"Okay, now that you know your mistakes, perhaps we'd better take a look at your blade's stats," Kyouju was saying.

"How come?" Aika asked, looking confused. "Don't those stay the same?"

Max shook his head. "Nope. They blade's stats change when the blader's abilities improve. For example, your friend's 'attack' ratings equal only one-and-a-half stars when he starts training, and then three months later, the same ratings could equal two to three stars, meaning his attack ability improved. Or it could have degraded to only one star, meaning he focused more on defense or speed."

"Oh, okay." Aika glanced down at her shoes for a while, and then glanced up again, smiling. "Okay, I wanna see my stats! _Please_?"

"All right, all right," the bespectacled man smiled, and then tapped several keys. After a few moments, he spoke up. "Aika, these were your stats at the start of the training program roughly five months ago."

The slate-haired girl frowned. "'Attack: one star; Defense: one star; and Speed: two stars.'" She slumped in her seat. "Those stats aren't very good..." she mumbled.

Rei smiled reassuringly, his amber eyes twinkling. "But remember: you've improved steadily throughout the program - something we can see easily - but the easiest way to measure that improvement is through your stats."

"Rei's right," Takao added, ruffling the girl's hair playfully. "Kyouju, have you finished analyzing her stat improvements?"

"Hang on..." Kyouju replied, staring intently at the screen. "Almost done...five seconds more...All right! Done!"

"That was quick..." Aika commented, sitting up straight again. "So what does it say?"

"Wait a moment; I still have to upload it to your profile; it will be easier to view that way." After a few moments, he smiled, and then tilted the laptop a bit so that everyone gathered around him, especially Aika, could see the screen a bit more easily. "Okay, here we go. Cross your fingers, guys!"

"I don't think so..." Max said, confident in the young girl's abilities. The machine bleeped, indicating that the file had loaded properly.

One glance was all it took...to cause Takao to fall of his seat in shock. Max was speechless, and Rei was wide-eyed. "Impressive...to say the least..." the neko-jin commented. Even Kyouju couldn't say anything.

Aika leaned forward and read what she saw on the screen. "'Attack: three stars; Defense: two stars; and Speed: two stars,'" she crossed her arms and huffed. "It's still not good enough; the maximum four each stat is _four_ stars."

At that, Takao leapt up from where he'd been lying on the floor. "You think _those_ readings aren't _good enough_?" he practically yelped. "Aika, believe me, they're _more_ than enough!"

"I don't believe you," Aika said, still pouting.

"But it's true," Max said, reaching over and pressing some keys. Instantly, Kai's old profile popped up on the screen over Aika's. "Of course, these readings are from nearly eleven years ago, but then, your dad was seventeen that time."

"'Attack: three-and-a-half stars; Defense: three stars; and Speed: three stars,'" Rei read out loud. And then he smiled at the ruby-eyed girl. "See? You're not far behind your dad, and your _seven_ years younger than he was when he achieved these high stats."

"I'm confused," Aika mumbled, swinging her legs alternately as though kicking something. "You guys said that he was one of the best - everyone says so - then how come Papa's stats are so low?"

"They're not as low as you think, Aika..." Hiromi joined the group. Kai had explained the stat system before, when she had thought the same thing. "Each star actually represents 25 percent proficiency; in order to be recognized as World Championship material, a blader has to have at least two stars in at least two stats. That's why the maximum is four stars. You can't go more than one hundred percent, right?"

"I think I get it..." Aika muttered, the beginning of a smile showing on her face. "So...that means..." she closed her eyes and thought hard. "Dad was 85 percent proficient in Attack, 75 percent in both Defense and Speed. And _I'm_ 75 percent proficient in Attack and Speed, and 50 percent in Defense."

Hiromi gave her another hug. "Yup! Basically, you're quite advanced for a rookie, something your Dad was way back when we first met him."

"A few more months, and we should have _at least_ a Regional Champion," Takao added encouragingly. "For all we know, she could achieve the same balance as Kai did, and _probably_ be the first to achieve 100 percent proficiency in at least two stats..."

Aika's face lit up. "Really? You think so?"

"Not just 'think'; we _believe_ so..." Rei replied.

"Cool!" Aika jumped down off her chair. "Mom?"

"Yes, Aika-_chan_?"

"Um...can I have a couple of friends over? They like to blade, too, and I thought that maybe I could train with them, too..." she looked down at the ground, kicking one foot nervously. "Besides, they've been wanting to...erm...meet the World Championship team - or what's left of it - for a long time now. And I never got the chance to tell them I'd started training with you guys, so-"

Takao laughed. "I see. All right, go ahead. Go fetch these friends of yours. You must miss them, huh?"

Aika nodded, ruby eyes shining. "Uh-huh! Mom says they've been calling, but I kept forgetting to call them back at night. They might be wondering what happened to me."

"Then by all means, go and tell them, and if their parents will agree, invite them here. I'm sure they'll be thrilled to meet these four," Hiromi gestured towards Team BBA.

"Yay! Thanks, Mom! Thanks, everyone!"

With that, Aika turned and ran towards the dojo entrance, her braids bouncing as she went.

Takao plopped down into his seat. "Chief, are you _sure_ your analyzer is still working properly?"

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A/N: All right, you know the drill, _minna_! I'll be looking forward to your comments! Also, feel free to come to me with any confusions and concerns you may have.

Dewa mata! Peace out and God bless!


	9. Chapter 8: The Tournament Commences

A/N: Whew! I guess I _am_ excited to reveal the epilogue...I finished this chapter in less than three hours...

Mei: Didn't your Lit professor say that the best writers just sit in front of their screens and then, after a few minutes, the words just start pouring out, and they somehow come up with a cohesive story without having to think very hard?

Me: True, but...I don't think I'm ready to be counted as one of 'the best', mainly because I'm not. Aki, the disclaimer, please...

Disclaimer - Aki: (sigh) Since you asked so nicely...Bakuten Shoot Beyblade doesn't belong to Hikari, but she owns the OCs depicted herein...

oOo

**Chapter 8: The Tournament Commences**

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the first official BEGA Japanese Regional Finals!" DJ Jazzman exclaimed, throwing an arm sideward for emphasis as he brought the microphone closer to his face. The crowd responded by cheering and clapping enthusiastically.

It was several weeks after Aika and her friends had turned eleven years old; the tournament the ruby-eyed girl had been training for and looking forward to had finally begun. She sat now beside Fumiko and Naoki - who had also elected to participate in the tournament - in the sidelines, waiting for the members of each block to be announced. Just like in the first BBA Japanese Regionals, there were going to be four blocks. The winners of Blocks A and B would battle, and the winners of Blocks C and D were to do the same. Then the winners of each match would battle it out for the title of Champion.

"Yes, folks, it looks like the sport is back on its feet after a long slump, with a fresh - and very excited - generation of bladers!

Once more the audience cheered. A split second later, the large display screen crackled to life. It showed 64 pictures, all of the competitors, and their names beside them.

"Hey!" Fumiko said suddenly, tugging on the sleeve of Aika's black shirt. "You...your name-!"

Aika grinned. "I know."

Under her picture were the words 'Hiwatari Aika'. "I doubt anyone will notice right away, though..." she giggled, pointing towards the announcer. "See? He's too wrapped up in what he's doing!"

"You know, you're right..." the light brown-haired girl mused.

"Besides, Mom agrees with me; revealing my true name isn't going to do any harm..."

Suddenly, a rumbling filled the stadium.

"Woah!" Naoki grabbed the edge of his seat so he wouldn't fall over. "Wh-what's happening?"

"They're bringing out the stadiums where the four blocks are going to battle," Aika replied, watching the four platforms rise up out of the floor. Then she glanced back up at the display screen. "Oh, look! The two of you are in the same block!"

"Huh?" the twins looked up at the same time. True enough, both their names were listed under Block A. Then Fumiko grinned. "Be careful, though, Aika..."

"Why?" the slate-haired girl wanted to know.

"You're in Block B. That means Naoki or I might go against you."

"No need to worry about me, Fumiko-_chan_," Aika replied, punching her friend playfully on the shoulder. "I'll be just fine."

"Will the members of Block A make their way to the battle stadium?" DJ Jazzman said suddenly.

"Well, this is it..." Fumiko said, standing up. Beside her, Naoki stood up as well. "We're off, Aika-_chan_."

"_Ganbatte_!"

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"Go, Dranzer MS!" Aika exclaimed. Quick as a flash, the five remaining competitors in Block B were knocked out of the stadium.

"Astounding, ladies and gentlemen," DJ Jazzman was saying now. "I don't think I've seen a girl battle as fiercely and intensely as this one in Block B! In fact, she seems to have excited the members of Team BBA - our unannounced special guests for this tournament - with her playing style!"

Sure enough, Takao, Rei, Max, and Kyouju were in the stands, cheering wildly for the ruby-eyed girl, who turned and waved to acknowledge them.

"And so the Block B preliminaries ends, folks!" DJ Jazzman. "Advancing to the Semi-Finals with the winner of Block A is..." the announcer suddenly gasped. "I don't believe this, fans! No wonder her playing style was so familiar! I don't know if any of you noticed, but she battles with the same ferociousness as the first ever Japan Champion, Hiwatari Kai! And there's reasonable cause for this: the winner of Block B is...HIWATARI AIKA!"

At first, the audience was relatively silent, murmers and whispers breaking out here and there. And then the bleachers errupted into thunderous applause.

It had to be said that most of them were sympathetic with Team BBA when they lost their captain in the BEGA incident eleven years ago, and they were ecstatic to find that Kai's blazing battle technique had not disappeared completely. Some had heard rumors, too, that the deceased blader's grandfather, Soichirou, had died a few months prior to the BEGA challenge, and so were heartened to know that the Hiwatari bloodline had not been eliminated entirely.

And so it was that a rather embarassed Aika made her way back to the bench she had shared with her two friends, and then she sat down. "Maybe I shouldn't have written 'Hiwatari', after all..." the ruby-eyed teen muttered, blushing furiously. "I didn't know the reaction would be _this_ enthusiastic..."

"Well, it's not your fault," Fumiko said, grinning. "Besides, it would be worse for you _not_ to acknowledge your lineage at all, don't you think?"

"Guess so..."

"Anyway, Aika, good luck in the Semi-Finals," Naoki said, holding out a hand to the slate-haired girl.

Aika smiled and took it. "Thanks. You, too, Naoki-_kun_,"

The dark-haired boy looked puzzled. "Huh?"

"What do you mean, 'huh'?" The ruby-eyed girl cocked her head to one side. "Didn't you make it?"

The twins shook their heads. "Nope. It was some other guy named Tetsuo."

"Oh..." Aika looked crestfallen, but smiled a moment later. "Oh, well. There's always next time, right, guys?"

"Yeah, there's always next time..."

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"Aika, you were great!" Hiromi exclaimed, giving her daughter a hug. It was a few minutes after Aika's Semi-Final match; she had won spectacularly, and the group had gathered in the back room provided for participants to congratulate her.

"Thanks, Mom..." the eleven-year-old replied, returning the gesture. "But I couldn't have done if my trainers hadn't trained me like they have."

"Aw, it was nothing, Aika, really..." Takao said, waving away the implied compliment.

"Also, if you hadn't expressed your intent to participate in the tournament," Max added, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder, "we wouldn't have trained you."

"So, Aika, do you know who your opponent is going to be?" Rei asked, plopping down onto a cushioned armchair. The slate-haired girl shook her head.

"No, I don't. I don't think the match between the winners of Blocks C and D is finished yet."

"Well, I suggest you go out there and observe the two competitors," the neko-jin continued. "Your dad placed a strong emphasis on knowing your opponent before battling them. In fact," the raven-haired man added thoughtfully. "That's the reason he was gone for hours on end during tournaments; we thought he was only training by himself, but it turns out that he'd been observing other teams and devising strategies with which to beat them."

"Really?" Aika looked interested. "I never knew that..."

"Well, now you do," Max said, occupying an armchair near the door. No sooner had he sat down that the door closed suddenly. "Woah!" the blonde jumped up in surprise. "What was _that_?"

"'That'," Takao began laughingly, "was Aika. Something tells me she's going to copy Kai again..."

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"All right, ladies and gentlemen! We've witnessed two very explosive battles in the Semi-Finals, now, prepare for the FINALS!"

The audience erupted into raucous cheers, whistles, and applause; DJ Jazzman had to wait for the noise to die down before he made his next announcement.

"So, without further ado, the finalists for the first BEGA Japanese Regional Finals, folks!"

"Aww, we missed the second semi-final match..." Takao groaned. "I wanted to watch it, too..."

"Cheer up, Takao," Max, said, settling into his seat. The group had chosen seats in the first row of bleachers, so that they could be easily spotted from the stadium. "At least we were able to watch Aika's match, and now she's in the finals."

"Our training is paying off," Rei said, smiling proudly. "And here I was worried she wouldn't be ready in time for the tournament, having been introduced to the sport so late in life..." The neko-jin stopped, and then grinned sheepishly. "Well, later in life compared to her peers..." he amended.

"Right." Takao said, taking the seat on Max's right side. Hiromi sat to Max's left, and Rei and Kyouju took the seats on _her_ left.

"Unbelievable!" DJ Jazzman was saying, glancing at his copy of the competitors' names. "We seem to be having a lot of semi-flashbacks - if you'll excuse the term - today, fans! If eleven years ago, one of the hottest battles took place between Hiwatari Kai and Brooklyn Kingston, today, we have their _kids_ battling it out for the top spot in the new generation of Beybladers! Yes, folks! The finalists are...Hiwatari Aika, and Shinji Kingston!"

Once more, the stands erupted into hoots and cheers of excitement; Team BBA, however, was looking a little unsettled.

"Did he just say 'Kingston'?" Hiromi leaned forward, worry creasing her brow.

"He did..." Max replied, looking just as concerned as the auburn-haired woman.

"Aika will do just fine..." Takao attempted to lighten his companions' apprehension, even though he himself wasn't feeling too good about this match. "She's come this far in so short a time; she'll manage..."

"I hope so..." Rei said, not taking his eyes off the stadium. Aika was already standing in front of the dish, and across from stood another eleven-year-old with short, spiky black hair, and - from what they could see - aqua eyes, eerily like those of BEGA's flame-haired trump card.

"Well, according to statistics," Kyouju piped up as he booted up his laptop and quickly opened a file, "there's only a five percent chance that the child of a Beyblader will inherit his - or her - ability, and only one percent out of that five can perfectly mimic said blader's playing style. That means, when in comes to Beyblading, only one in one hundred kids will be the spitting image of their parent - or parents, if ever such a thing happens."

"So Aika is one of the lucky ones?" Hiromi asked, still a little apprehensive. She was referring to Aika's speed in mastering several of Kai's more complicated offensive and defensive maneuvers, which she gleaned from watching the CD Chairman Daitouji had given them before.

Kyouju nodded. "There's a very slim chance - or none at all - that this Shinji will cause any problems for her..."

"That still isn't enough...as you said, there's still a chance..."

"True..."

"Bladers, are you ready?" DJ Jazzman called. Aika and Shinji moved quickly into their favored launching positions. "3...2...1...Go, shoot!"

Both blades - Aika's dark blue Dranzer MS, and Shinji's dark purple one - spun quickly into the dish.

"Dranzer MS, Fire Storm Attack!" Aika commanded. The blue blade began moving in tightening spirals around it's opponent, and then, quick as a flash, there was a _thwack!_ and the purple blade spun through the air.

"No!" Shinji exclaimed, looking horrified. "Zeus, get back in there!"

Team BBA stood up quickly. "'_ZEUS_'!"

oOo

A/N: How many of you guys saw that coming? just wanted to know...Hmm...around two or three more chapters and this fic's done! Yay!

Dewa mata! Peace out and God bless!


	10. Chapter 9: The Final Match

A/N: Aaaaargh! I hadn't noticed how short my chapters were getting. Chapters 8 and above average only 20kb on my computer, while earlier chapters reached more than 50kb! (moans) What's happening to me?

Anyway, on with the fic!

Disclaimer: If I owned Beyblade, would I be posting on this site?

oOo

**Chapter 9: The Final Match**

Team BBA stood up quickly. "'_ZEUS_'!"

Hiromi put a hand over her mouth. "Oh, no..."

"Calm down, Hiromi," Rei gave her a quick, reassuring hug. "I'm sure there's no need to be worried,"

Back in the stadium, Shinji's blade had landed back in the dish, but in a very precarious position: it was balanced - quite unsteadily - very near the rim of the dish.

Aika smirked, seeing her chance. "Dranzer MS, finish this match! _Aerial Axe_!"

The dark blue blade made its way across the dish from the Zeus blade, spinning faster and faster and driving itself up the slope. Once it hit the rim, however, it didn't spin out, but rather seemed to leap into the air and quickly turn onto its side.

"Hey! She modified Kai's attack!" Takao commented, watching Aika's blade plummet back into the dish, still on its side, and spin quickly towards Shinji's. "If only he could see how talented his kid is..."

"Don't get sentimental," Hiromi said, smiling a bit. Perhaps there _was_ no cause for worry. "It doesn't suit you..."

There was another _thwack! _as Dranzer connected with its opponent once more, this time effectively knocking the purple blade out of the dish.

All were silent for a few moments, shocked at how quickly the first round (as was customary in tournaments, the Semi-Finals and Finals matches would have three rounds each) had come to an end. DJ Jazzman, as usual, was the first to recover.

"And what an jaw-dropping finish, folks!" the announcer exclaimed. "Barely a minute into the match and already Shinji is knocked out! You'd better watch out if you challenge this gal, bladers; she's certainly living up to the Hiwatari name!"

Aika turned towards the bleachers, spotted her mother and her companions, and waved, grinning widely. Hiromi waved back, and mouthed, "Go get 'em!"

Aika giggled, and mouthed back, "I will,"

"All right, everyone; let's get down to the second round!" DJ Jazzman said, just as excited as the crowd to witness the outcome of this battle. "Bladers, take your positions!"

"Nice technique," Shinji called from across the dish as he went into position.

Aika grinned. "Thanks. You've got great blade control, by the way; not everyone can get their blade to land within millimeters of the edge of the dish like you did back there."

"Thanks."

"3...2...1...Go, shoot!"

Once more, the two preteens yanked on the ripcords. This time, Aika went for the middle, and Shinji aimed for the opposite slope.

"Okay, Dranzer, you know what to do!" Aika called. Dranzer seemed to spin faster in response, and then headed directly for Zeus. The only problem was, it was no longer there. "Hey! Where'd he go?" The slate-haired girl glanced around the dish quickly, then spotted what looked like the shadow of a blade. "Dranzer, over there!" The azure blade moved quickly to comply, but the blade seemed to vanish once more. Aika glanced up. "Playing hide-and-seek, are we?" Shinji just smiled in reply.

"All right, then...Dranzer, _Flying Flame Shadows_!" At once, the stadium seemed to be engulfed in flame. Aika smirked; she spotted the flickering silhouette of her opponent's blade. "_Mitsuketa_! Dranzer, _now_!"

The blue blade moved to attack, but seconds later it was knocked out of the stadium, and the flames extinguished themselves.

"And Shinji wins the second round, ladies and gentlemen!" DJ Jazzman yelled in order to be heard above the din. "Looks like we're going to have to go on the Round 3!"

Aika quickly got over her shock as she retrieved her blade. "Very nice counterattack," she commented, setting the blade in place on her launcher. "You're going to have to try harder, though, if you want to win this..."

"I'd say the same to you..." Shinji replied, a mysterious grin on his face. Aika blinked, unnerved by her opponent's smile, then shook her head as though to clear any negative thoughts from her mind. She decided quickly to use the Fury launch, one of the few launching techniques she'd mastered, positioning her arms above her head just as she'd seen her father do in the video.

"She's going to use it!" Max exclaimed, noting the girl's position.

"Yes! That's one of Kai's most powerful launches!" Takao cheered, feeling the cloud of doubt - which had weighed heavily on his heart since the start of the match - begin to slowly drift away into nothingness. Perhaps there was no cause for worry, after all.

"Okay, bladers! 3...2...1...Go, shoot!"

Shinji merely yanked powerfully on his ripcord, his blade a blur as it entered the dish. Aika brought her arms swinging downwards, and here was where she modified yet another of her father's techniques. Instead of releasing her blade directly, her arms came swinging down in an arc from the top of her head, landing at her left hip. This was quickly followed by a swift pull on the launcher, effectively combining Kai's Fury launch with Takao's Storm launch. As a result, the Dranzer MS was nowhere to be seen, but a strong vibration could be felt a split second later, telling of its entrance into the dish.   
"Now _you're _the one playing hide-and-seek..." Shinji observed, the unsettling smile still on his face. "But I don't think that's going to work with me..."

"How so?" Aika cocked a slim gray eyebrow, dubious. _He's scared..._ she thought, trying to ease the anxiety rising in her chest. _He's just bluffing..._ Aloud, she said, "Dranzer, Volcanic Explosion!" Almost immediately, rings of fire surrounded Shinji's blade, but Aika's still could not be seen. Suddenly - and surprisingly - the spiralling flame vanished, and Zeus remained unscathed in the center of the stadium

Aika gasped. "How did you-"

Shinji smirked. "Escape? That's something I'm not telling. But nice attack, by the way; didn't see that coming." Once more, he smiled that unnerving smile "Zeus! Volcanic Explosion!"

This time, the flame that filled the dish was a dark, sinister purple, the same aura that had surrounded Zeus during Brooklyn and Kai's match.

A screech resounded in Aika's head, indicating that her bit beast had been injured, and then she gasped and clutched her left arm, which had suddenly began to throb with pain.

Once more, the members of Team BBA stood up from their seats, the tension apprehension returning with frightening speed.

"Shinji just copied her attack!" Max said, hardly daring to believe what he had seen.

"Aika's hurt!" Hiromi, one hand at her mouth, the other tightly gripping the railing. "What if it gets worse?"

"Don't think like that, Hiromi..." Rei admonished gently. "We have to think positive, let Aika know that we still believe she can make it." In a louder voice, he called. "Go, Aika! Fight!"

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Amethyst orbs narrowed.

He did not like the way this battle was going.

Not one bit.

At first, he had been confident that Aika would prevail, but now...

_I'd hoped the child wouldn't have the same abilities as the father...but he does. And now Aika is in danger..._

He sighed, got up, and walked over to where he knew 'the door' - something of a portal to reality - would be. It had been shown to him before, and he had been cautioned that he could leave this 'sanctuary' for only a short span of time, and then only if it was an absolute necessity. The nature of this necessity had not been specified, however; if there was a time he ever needed to make an appearance in reality, it was now.

His daughter needed him.

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In the stadium, the ruby-eyed preteen slowly let go of her arm and stood up straighter, her jaw set. "Is that all you've got?" she asked, her voice as cold as steel. "Try copying _this_ one! Dranzer, _Ultimate Destruction_!"

This time, the dark blue blade showed itself, but only momentarily. At once, it was engulfed in a large fireball, which divided into hundreds of smaller ones that screamed down towards their target.

"'Ultimate Destruction'?" Takao looked puzzled. "Is that one of Kai's attacks? I never knew he had that one..."

"No, I think it's an offensive technique Aika devised on her own or with the help of her friends..." Kyouju replied.

In the dish, Dranzer MS had disappeared again; the fireball had dissipated, and Zeus was looking decidedly more damaged than it had been at the start of the match.

Shinji looked unperturbed, though, much to Aika's dismay. "Another excellent technique," the raven-haired preteen commented, still smirking. "Mind if I copy it again?"

"You wish!" Aika shot back. At the same time, something knocked Zeus to the side. Shinji, meanwhile, seemed to have been pushed backwards quite a bit, and he held his stomach gingerly. It was Aika's turn to smirk.

_Perfect!_

This, however, didn't faze her opponent; in fact, he looked a little disappointed. "Don't you know that imitation is a form of praise?" he asked, glancing at the dish. "Zeus!"

In an instant, Zeus was enshrouded in sinister purple flame again, and once more it flawless copied Aika's attack. Purple fireball after purple fireball rained down all over the stadium; thankfully, though, since Dranzer MS was hidden, only a small percentage of the flaming orbs actually connected. That didn't make it any less painful, however; each time her blade got hit, Aika let out a little cry of pain, but made no sign of giving up or forfeiting the match.

_Dad...is this...what happened when you fought this guy's father?_ She thought, trying to keep focused on the battle.

"Uh, oh...looks like we're _really _going to need the medics for this match!" DJ Jazzman commented, looking slightly worried. "Both competitors - especially Aika - are looking slightly injured! Someone inform the medic team in the back room! We certainly don't want anyone dying from this tournament..."

"Shinji...don't you have any original attacks?" Aika was slighly put off by the fact that her opponent kept copying her techniques - and so effortlessly, too!

The aqua-eyed boy only grinned that grin again, causing Aika to shudder inwardly. "I'm glad you asked..." Here he glanced towards the bleachers on his side of the stadium and smiled at someone somewhere in the crowd.

Hiromi and her friends followed the boy's gaze and spotted the familiar form of Brooklyn. "So...his dad's watching..." Takao observed.

"Apparently, he trained his son personally..." Max added. All four young adults turned their attention back to Shinji just as he turned back to the battle at hand. "Zeus! _King of Darkness_!"

Hiromi fairly leapt out of her seat. "NO!" she cried, ruby orbs wide with a mixture of fright and surprise.

Takao gulped. "That...that attack..."

Rei, Max, and Kyouju were thunderstruck; neither said anything. All five were hoping that it would be a less dangerous version of the original, but at that moment, their fears were confirmed: at first, it was only a small, dark, whirlwind emanating from the center of Shinji's blade. But within seconds, it had evolved into the familiar, tangible vortex of darkness, shooting out in the same terrifying, ever-widening spiral towards Aika and threatening to engulf her.

Aika stood stockstill, frozen by shock, uncertainty, and fear. She'd seen this happen in the video of her father's battle with her opponent's father, but she never imagined it would be _this_ frightening to have it happen to one's own self.

Quick as a flash, the dark swirling mass fulfilled its threat; almost too soon, it seemed to have swallowed Aika completely. There wasn't even time for the girl to scream in fright, if she had wanted to.

"_AIKA_!"

oOo

A/N: Noooo! Is Aika doomed to suffer the same fate as her father, at the hands of the same bit beast? XP but seriously, what do you think's going to happen? Dare you to leave a review before going to the next chapter (yeah, I've posted the next chapter to this already...)!

Dewa mata, minna! Peace out!


	11. Chapter 10 : Dying Twice Over

A/N: This may come as a shock to you guys, but this fic's almost over... O.o I don't know what's wrong with me, but it seems as though when I realized how close I was to finishing this, I went crazy...Anyway...

Disclaimer: Nope, have no idea what you're talking about...

oOo

**Chapter 10: Dying Twice Over**

"_AIKA_!" Hiromi cried, trying vainly to reach her child. She knew, however, that she could not, no matter how hard she wished she could. Aika was now trapped in the world that caused so much suffering to its victims - enshrouded by darkness and slowly drowning in nothingness were trademarks of this attack.

The vortex swirled, never changing its size nor shape, yet the five friends knew all too well what went on within the parallel universe created inside its sinister form.

In the blink of an eye, the horrific maelstrom created from the absence of light dissolved, returning to whatever dimension it had been summoned from. In doing so, it revealed Aika's limp form, who fell with a thud onto the platform, and lay still, as her father had, all those years ago.

From somewhere in the stands, the chairman of the now-gone Beyblade Battle Association watched on in horror. Chairman Daitouji clenched his walking stick so hard that his arms seemed to quiver with the pressure, as he contemplated this terrible question: Was this match going to be a replay of that fatal day?

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_Slowly, Aika opened her eyes, blinking them once, twice, as her surroundings registered. It took quicker than usual because...there was nothing to take in. Only darkness. A darkness so tangible, so frighteningly real that it was nearly suffocating._

_And then, suddenly, she felt her chest constricting, her breathing slow and labored. _

Papa...is this...why you died, later on? _she thought, fighting to remain calm despite the fear that now enveloped her, adding to the shadow's deadly presence._ How did you...fight it? How...did you escape, if you did at all?

_Within seconds, her vision became blurry, and she was gasping for breath now. _How much longer...can I last? _she wondered. Perhaps it wouldn't be much longer before she succumbed and -_

_"Aika."_

_Shocked, the ruby-eyed girl turned around (how could she move when there was no ground to stand on? she wondered vaguely) and spotted the familiar figure. The intimidating silhouette one could easily recognize...gentle amethyst gaze only a special few could see...slate-gray hair that mimicked her own..._

_"Dad?" she breathed, not quite believing it._

_Hiwatari Kai smiled, reassuring her, willing her to gather her strength. "Yes, Aika...it's me."_

_"Why can I see you now?" Aika wanted to know. She was more frightened now; her father was supposed to be dead! Did that mean _she_ was dead as well?  
Kai came a few steps closer. "I'm only here to help..." he reached out a hand, conveying his message with his gaze. "You still need to fight, but I felt that you needed to know I was here, too..."_

_Thankfully, Aika seemed to understand in an instant. She quickly reached out to take her father's hand in hers. When their fingers touched, it seemed that the surrounding darkness imploded upon itself, pressured from the outside with majestic, white light._

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"Is this battle over?" Jazzman wondered out loud, eyeing the stadium. "Aika's Dranzer is still spinning, but Aika herself is still down..."

"You bet its over!" Shinji exclaimed. Upon hearing its master's voice, the dark purple blade zoomed toward its opponent. In a moment, both blades had collided and were pushing against each other, each determined to knock the other out or stop it from spinning. _How is she doing this?_ the dark-haired preteen thought, frowning in consternation. _How is it that her blade is still fighting, when she is already unconscious?_

"I don't think this match is as easy you think, Shinji," a voice interrupted the boy's thoughts; he glanced up and gasped. Across from him, Aika was shakily getting to her feet.

"You...you _escaped_ so quickly?" Shinji was aghast. "No way!"

"Surprised?" the ruby-eyed teen smirked. "Well, you have every right to be, 'cause now...I know how to beat you!"

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"She's...she's all right!" Hiromi heaved a heavy sigh of relief and dropped back into her chair. "Thank _kami_..."

"Looks like they have the medical team ready..." Kyouju commented, noting the presence of several white-clad figures near the competitors' entrance.

"I guess Balkov wants to prevent deaths from happening in his company's tournaments..." Max said, settling back into his seat, glad that his friend's child was going to be okay. At least, he hoped she was going to be okay...

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"Dranzer! Turbo Gigs Flame, _now_!"

At its master's command, the indigo blade began to rain feather-like flames on its opponent; some were meant to hit the target, but their main function was to trap the opposing blade in one spot while Dranzer attacked from above, hopefully sending Zeus out of the stadium with this one attack.

The dark blue blade came shrieking down towards its target, engulfed with a roiling fire. There was a loud crashing sound as the two blades clashed, and Shinji's was pushed almost to the edge before it rallied back, parrying with its own attacks. It had to be said that both players were injured slightly whenever an attack managed to connect, a good justification for having the medical team readily on hand instead of standing by in the back room.

"Zeus! Finish this!" Shinji commanded, looking more than a bit riled up. The deep violet blade began to zoom around the dark blue one, crashing into it violently at the peak of its attack.

Aika resisted the urge to cry out in pain, counterattacking in an instant, landing blow after hammering blow on the violet blade.

Soon, both bladers were on their knees, gasping.

"C'mon, Shinji!" Brooklyn, from up in the stands, called towards his offspring. "Finish her off!"

The raven-haired boy glanced up at his father, giving a small smirk in reply. He then got up and turned back round to face Aika. "My father was right..." he said, just loud enough for his opponent to hear. "You have the same playing style as your dad. You fought a good battle," he continued, his smirk growing wider, "but you're spent now, tired, as is your bit beast. Zeus tells me so..."

Ruby orbs widened, and then narrowed, incensed. "Are you saying I don't have the skills to pull off a win?" Aika fairly yelled. A strong gale began to blow in Shinji's direction, pushing both boy and blade backwards a fair distance. "If so...then you imply that my father was the same..._and that is most certainly _not_ true_!"

As if on cue, flames surrounded the preteen, enclosing her in something akin to a protective circle that was _not _there to protect. "Dranzer! Final Attack!"

Shinji looked amused. "Are you trying to prove something with one futile attack?" Aqua orbs narrowed. "Very well...it's your choice...Zeus! _Rolling Hell's Flame_!"

"_VOLCANIC STORM EXPLOSION_!"

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"Hiromi! Where are you going?" Takao stood up when he saw the auburn-haired woman get up suddenly and make her way towards the stairs.

"I'm going down there," Hiromi glanced over her shoulder at her friend, determination shining in her ruby eyes, "And putting a stop to this ridiculous match before anyone gets hurt any further."

"What?" Takao looked taken aback for a second, before realizing what Aika's mother had just said. "Hey! Blading is _not_ ridiculous! You - whoa! Wait! Hiromi, wait up!" Hiromi had begun to walk off as the stormy-eyed man kept on talking, and he only noticed when she was halfway to the stairs. He hurried after her, with Max, Rei, and Kyouju close behind him.

The group reached the ground floor of the battle dome just in time to see the stadium erupt into a fantastic column of flame and smoke, sinister purple in color. Hiromi stopped short, then called out fearfully.

"_AIKA_!"

"_SHINJI_!"

At almost the same time, across from Team BBA, stood Brooklyn Kingston. Male and female locked gazes, shocked at first, then understanding blossomed across their features: neither had wanted this to happen.

The smoke cleared and, miraculously, both Aika and Shinji were still standing. Apparently, the sinister purple color of the flame-and-smoke column had been a manifestation of the collision of both powers - red for flame, dark purple for darkness.

The stands were silent; both blades were still spinning. It seemed as though time stood still, moving agonizingly slow as each one awaited the outcome of the spectacular - and highly dangerous - battle. Finally, after what seemed like hours, only one blade was left spinning as the other ground to a halt.

"And we have our champion, ladies and gentlemen!" DJ Jazzman exclaimed, taking advantage of the initial shock of the audience. "In the end, it came down to endurance, folks, and the best man has indeed won! Or, in this case, the best _girl_!"

Takao and his friends burst into ecstatic whoops and cheers upon hearing that Aika had won. Hiromi, delighted at the news and relieved that her treasure was to be all right, ran up to the platform and mounted the steps. In front of the dish, Aika had retrieved her blade and had sank into a sitting position, overwhelmed at the fact that she had pulled through, had become the first official Champion of the Japanese Blading Tournament since her birth.

"Aika!"

The slate-haired girl turned around at the sound of her name. Her face lit up like Christmas morning when she saw it was her _mother_ that had called her.

"Mom!" she got up and fairly threw herself at her relative. "Mom, I won! _I won_!"

"Yes, yes, I know, baby, I know." Hiromi gave a small sob as she gathered the girl in a hug. It was a bittersweet moment for her and her friends: her child, her Aika, had won the tournament and come out alive, but the one other person that mattered the most in her life - and her daughter's father - wasn't there to see it.

Aika seemed to read Hiromi's thoughts and tugged on her sleeve. "I saw him, Mom," she said suddenly, excitement causing her voice to sound more childish than usual.

Hiromi glanced at the girl in confusion. "Saw _who_, Aika-_chan_?"

"Papa." Aika replied, ruby eyes shining with happiness. "He helped me escape that...that dark place, the one you said Dad had been trapped in before."

Hiromi looked shocked, and then gathered Aika in another embrace, unsure of what to say. Aika, though, babbled on.

"He was every bit as good-looking as in the photo, Mom! And his voice...it was so...so awesome when he spoke, but I knew...I could feel that he...he...was there...g-guiding me..."

The medic team had split into two groups - one to tend to each of the two finalists - but Hiromi took no notice of this; she was only concerned because Aika had stopped talking. She broke off the hug - and gasped. "AIKA!"

At the horror in their friend's voice, Team BBA came rushing over, surrounding her.

"Hiromi, what's wrong?"

"What happened?"

"Hey, what's with Aika?"

The ruby-eyed preteen had her eyes closed, and was slumped against her mother. One could have said that she was only sleeping, for indeed, her face was the image of slumber - happy and content. There was no sign of pain or any indication of suffering in her features, but the very peaceful quality of her face was a cause for concern.

The medics moved in, laying her onto a portable stretcher. One white-clad person, knelt down and felt for a pulse. No sooner had he grasped the small wrist then he let go, apalled.

"What?" Hiromi asked, her voice panicked, her brow furrowed, her eyes welling up with tears of worry. "What is it?"

The medic shook his head. "It's...no use, ma'am. Even if we brought her in, there's nothing the best doctors can do. From what she's endured, I'd say it was internal bleeding, or some other injury irreparable at this point. I'm...I'm sorry..."

Across the stadium, Brooklyn stood still, frozen with shock at the revelation of his - and his son's - bit beast's capability. Shinji, too, was transfixed with terror and shame at what he had willed the creature of darkness to inflict upon another being his age.

Takao, Max, Rei, and Kyouju. Their faces all wore the same mask of horror at the events playing before them; it was as though their captain had died twice over.

For Hiromi, nothing much mattered any more. She collapsed over Aika's prone figure, sobbing loudly, any words she might have said muffled by her cries of anguish and pain. Finally, unable to hold herself back any longer, she lifted her face towards the heavens, tears streaking down her now-pale cheeks, her eyes almost shut tight with the intensity of emotion welling inside her, and cried out, one long, last shout of pain that only a mother was capable of feeling at that moment.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

oOo

A/N: I've no idea what's wrong with me...Maybe I just like making Hiromi suffer... XP Nah, that's not it, although whatever it is makes for better fics, eh? But that's just me... ;

R&R, if you would be so kind...Dewa mata! Peace out and God bless!


	12. Epilogue: Once is Enough

A/N: Okay, I am definitely crazy...This chapter came out in less than an hour with no revisions! It's like my hands were moving on their own or something; I didn't even have to think what came next! O.o

Mei: Did you have any candy in the past few days?

Me: You know I don't eat candy on a regular basis, Mei. I don't even need coffee! Well, I can't take coffee 'cause it makes me sleepy instead of perking me up...wierd, huh?

Aki: You're rambling again...

Me: Oh. Oops... ; Wait...weren't you guys supposed to be on the 'Muse Cruise' I sent you on? Oh, and for those who don't know, I use the original (Japanese) character names, so that means Tyson is Takao; Kenny is Kyouju; Lee is Rai; and so on…

Disclaimer: Do I need to say it?

oOo

**Epilogue: Once is Enough**

Hiromi collapsed over Aika's prone figure, sobbing loudly, any words she might have said muffled by her cries of anguish and pain. Finally, unable to hold herself back any longer, she lifted her face towards the heavens, tears streaking down her now-pale cheeks, her eyes almost shut tight with the intensity of emotion welling inside her, and cried out, one long, last shout of pain that only a mother was capable of feeling at that moment.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

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"NOOOOOOOOO!"

Hiwatari Kai shot up in bed, eyes wide with alarm, a cold sweat pouring off his limbs. Gradually, his breathing slowed down and returned to normal, and he found himself glancing at his surroundings. He noted the blankets twisted around his legs and lower torso, and Hiromi's sleeping form beside him on the bed.

_A nightmare..._ he thought, heaving a sigh of relief and running a hand through his slate-gray locks. _Only a horrible dream..._ He was about to swing his legs over the side of the bed - after disentangling himself from the sheets - when the full force of the dream's implications hit him. He whipped his head around to glance at Hiromi's peaceful face.

_What if..._ he thought slowly, hardly daring to acknowledge the thought. _What if the dream was true?_ The full consequence of what he feared was about to happen weighed heavily on his mind. If the dream was really what he thought it was - a bleak premonition of the future, a warning - then he had to act.

He stood up and walked towards the door of Hiromi's room, frowning as he fought to recall the exact point in time things began to go wrong. Perhaps if he could figure out when fate began to work against him, he could devise a plan to counter it, and change his intended future.

Around thirty minutes later, Kai emerged from the bathroom in his sleeping chamber, fully dressed now and ready to face the challenges so terribly presented in his dream. He revisited Hiromi's room first. He rolled up the sheet of paper he clutched in his hand, and then inserted it into the protective circle of his silver ring, similar to Hiromi's on her left hand. He then left in on the table, fixing the blankets covering the auburn-haired teen before leaving her room.

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"Where's Kai?" Takao asked, glancing about the room. He and his companions were gathered in the team room inside the BEGA battle dome. As mentioned, all they were waiting for now was the slate-haired blader. "Did he suddenly leave without telling us again?"

"He's been training, Takao," Hiromi replied, looking a bit put off that the stormy-eyed teen would think so little of his friend and teammate's morals. "He came here earlier this morning. Also, whatever it was, he had a lot to think about." She sighed, leaning back in her seat. "Anyway, he'll be along in a few moments."

"But we can't be sure of that, Hiromi. Maybe he lost track of the time, or-"

"You know very well I don't lose track of time, Kinomiya," the familiar cold voice cut through the conversation like a steel blade; there in the doorway stood Kai, looking as stoic and determined as ever.

"Glad to see you showed up, Kai," Rei said, smiling.

"You arrived just in time, too!" Max added, glancing at the wall clock. "They'll be calling us out any moment now."

"Then let's get going!" Takao urged. One by one, they headed for the door. Kai and Hiromi were the last ones through. Well behind their friends, they shared a secret smile, holding hands as they traversed the length of the hallway leading to the stadium.

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"How is it that you keep getting up?" Brooklyn, thoroughly frustrated now, asked, his face contorted in fury.

Kai smirked, slightly pleased that he had infuriated his opponent. If the enemy were angered past the point of logic, they would no longer think rationally - a definite advantage for him. At the same time, he noted that it would not be long now before the crucial point in this battle would show itself. He glanced up.

"Kai. That's my name; and I'm a blader. You may think _you_ are, too, but you're not! You learned from the best, but you forgot a lifetime's worth of lessons: Beyblading isn't _only_ about overpowering your opponent with fancy moves; that's only part of it. There's more to it. Much more.

"I learned from every battle I've ever fought. Every friend, enemy, and spectator always had something to offer me. I'm a student of this game and I always will be. Through the hardships of training, competitions, the wins and the losses, I learned something. And now I'm taking _this_ knowledge and using it to my advantage. That's why I can say I'm a true blader! That, and the fact that my friends are here to support me, keeps me going; _that_'s my strength!""You can cut the crap!" Brooklyn exclaimed; at the same time, Zeus seemed to be preparing itself for another attack. "'Cause I'm not listening to _any_ of it!" The aqua orbs contracted, and then the flame-haired teen yelled, "Zeus! King of Darkness Attack!"  
"Oh, no!" Kyouju was practically frantic now. "That's the same attack Brooklyn used on Kai in their previous battle! The one Kai nearly _died_ from!"

"Say _what_?" Takao whirled around to face the bespectacled teen. He'd seen Rei rushed to the hospital after a very bloody battle with Boris from Team Neoborg, back when Team BBA was still new; and he'd watched Yuri being carted off after _his_ battle against Garland, in critical - but stable - condition. But he'd never, _ever_ heard of anyone almost _dying_ from an attack.

The stormy-eyed blader searched his friend's eyes; whatever he was looking for, he never found it. He bit his lip, and then turned back to the match. What he saw made him gasp loudly.

From out of Brooklyn's blade, a _very_ tangible darkness swirled around in a deadly vortex, reaching out in an ever-widening spiral towards the amethyst-eyed teen; Kai stood, unmoving, his hair blowing backwards in the gale-force wind as he stared into the deadly eye of this storm of darkness. He knew...the moment was near. This was where he'd have to act decisively enough to save his life.

Aside from the howling of the wind, which had picked up in speed and ferocity, there was an almost inaudible howling and moaning of what seemed to be spirits, entwined within the fatal absence of light. And then, in the twinkling of an eye, this implausible, near-living 'creature' seemed to have had engulfed the slate-haired teen, and then dissipated, returning to whatever horrific dimension from which its deadly form had been summoned. Kai's body was nowhere in sight.

"No! Kai!"

In the stadium, Brooklyn smirked. He knew it: _he'd won_.

"Not so fast, Kingston!"

The aqua-eyed teen glanced up towards the source of the voice...and gasped.

"_You_!"

Wide smiles of relief spread on the faces of the members of Team BBA when they saw what had happened.

"Oh, yes!" An overjoyed Hiromi exclaimed, latching onto Max's neck. "He's all right!"

"Uh, yeah, Hiromi...he's okay..." Max said, half-choking, as he gently pried the auburn-haired teen's arms away.

At the last moment, Kai had jumped, the dark vortex missing him by mere centimeters. Closer scrutiny revealed that fiery wings, although quite faint in form, had somehow sprouted from his back, indicating that the slate-haired teen had asked Dranzer for help in a more tangible form, and the loyal phoenix had given it.

Within seconds, he landed back on the platform, and the wings disappeared. Kai lost no time. "Dranzer! _Volcanic Explosion Storm_!"

Brooklyn had no time to react, nor did he know _how_ to react. The dark blue blade that was Dranzer shot forward with blinding speed, clashing into its opponent over and over, seemingly from several angles at once. The flame-haired blader recovered quickly enough, however, and fought back, landing blow after blow on the Dranzer blade.

Kai fought the urge to cry out in pain - he could feel his faithful bit beast's agony as the blows connected. He knew she could not last much longer - neither could he, being as injured as he was - and so resolved to put everything he had into this one last attack.

"Dranzer! Go! _Ultimate Destruction_!"

As in his dream the night before, Dranzer flew up into the air, instantly becoming engulfed in roiling flame. The gigantic fireball suspended above the stadium quickly dissolved into hundreds of smaller ones. These rained down onto the dish with such speed that the dark blade could not hope to elude them all. Finally, when there were no more balls of flame to expend, the blade itself shrieked downwards towards its opponent. There was a _thwack!_ as the two blades connected, and then, to everyone's surprise, Zeus came whirling out of the dish, landing with a dull clink at its master's feet, utterly defeated.

Silence descended upon the stands, and then, slowly, the applause built until it was wave upon undulating wave of ecstatic onlookers, simply swept away by the spectacular finish.

Kai retrieved his blade and gave Brooklyn one last, satisfied smirk before turning to meet his friends and teammates. He quickly made his way down the platform steps, counting down the seconds to when he knew he was supposed to collapse.

_5...4...3...2...1..._

But the dizzying feeling, the weakness in his knees he was supposed to have felt, never came. Instead, he managed the entire six feet - the distance at which he was supposed to have collapsed - without the slightest trace of a fainting spell.

"Kai!"

The first person he came in contact with was Hiromi, who nearly knocked him to the floor in her excitedly relieved state.

"Way to go!" Max said by way of congratulating the amethyst-eyed teen.

"You sure showed him!" Takao said, punching his captain on his arm.

"Whatever, Kinomiya." Kai said, offering a small smile in return. "You just worry about your upcoming battle, all right?"

"No problem!" The stormy-eyed teen grinned cheekily, taking a few poses before Hiromi whacked him upside his head. The ruby-eyed girl quickly turned her attention back to Kai after doing so.

"Kai, you face looks a little pale," she said worriedly, recalling his words from last night. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

Kai nodded slowly. "I...I guess I'll go sit down at the team bench. Takao," he added, throwing the dragon wielder a stern glance. "You get ready for your match with Garland."

Takao gave a smart mock salute. "You got it, sir."

"And knock off the acting; you need to get serious," Kai admonished, shaking his head good-naturedly. Turning on his heel, he walked towards the bench where everyone else had been earlier, and sank onto it. A moment later, he felt someone sit down next to him and glanced up. It was Hiromi, and she _still _looked somewhat worried.

"Are you absolutely sure you're all right, Kai?" she asked once more. "I could call the medic team to have a look at you; I know that there's one in one of the bigger back rooms."

Kai shook his head. I don't think there's any need to do that, Hiromi, but perhaps I _could_ use some bandages to bind the worst of these injuries. We might need them also later for Takao when he gets out of _his_ battle." he added as an afterthought.

Hiromi smiled as she got up. "Sure. I'll go get some."

Kai leaned back against the refreshing coolness of the metal wall behind the bench and watched as the ruby-eyed teen disappeared into the passageway leading to the medic room. _I've done what I could..._ he thought, closing his eyes tiredly. _Now...all I can do is wait..._

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"A toast," Takao was saying, "to Team BBA's triumph over Team BEGA, and the successful return of the Beyblade Battle Association!"

It was around two weeks and several days after the BEGA Justice Five Tournament (Takao and his team had won, of course) and they, along with the PPB All Starz, Team Neoborg, F-Sangre, and Baifuzu X had all gathered at the Kinomiya dojo for a proper celebratory dinner.

There was a soft clink as everyone lightly banged their glasses of punch together, and then drank from them. Takao finished his in one gulp, and then he set the glass on the table. "Where'd Kai go?" he asked, looking around the room. "And for that matter, where's _Hiromi_?"

Everyone shrugged, looking just as puzzled as the dark blue-haired teen.

"I haven't seen them for the past ten minutes," Kyouju noted, glancing at the open door that led to the wraparound porch. "Maybe they stepped outside or something..."

"You know, you could be right..." Takao made his way over to the door, poked his head out, and glanced up and down the porch. "Nope, they're not out here," he said after a while, returning to the group.

"So where could they-" Max began, only to be interrupted by a loud shriek coming from the inner room.

"_Kyaaaaaaaaaaah_!"

"What was that?" Rei set his glass down, glancing at the door leading to the room from where the shriek - of fright or delight, he knew not which - had come.

"I don't know, but it sounded like Hiromi is in there!" It went without saying that Takao was concerned for his friend. Setting down his now-empty glass, he hurried towards the _shouji_, followed closely by the others. Upon reaching the door, the steel blue-eyed teen slid it open with as much force as he could - an effective tactic, he thought, in surprising intruders, should there be any within the room - and called out.

"Hiromi! What's the-"

Takao stopped short of entering the room, eyes wide. Everyone else who had been following subsequently crashed into each other, some falling over onto the floor.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" Rai – who became team captain of Baifuzu X during the BEGA incident - asked, pushing himself up off of the floor. "Kinomiya, why on earth did you stop?"

"Yeah!" pink-haired Mao added, dusting herself off. "There are _a lot_ of us behind you who could have gotten hurt, you know…"

Takao seemed incapable of verbal reply; he merely pointed towards the center of the room, and everyone - at least, everyone who could see where he was looking - followed his gaze.

There, looking shocked and overjoyed at the same time, was Hiromi. It was indeed she who had shrieked, but out of happiness, they could see that now. What shocked them was who was in the room with her, looking every bit as happy - an understatement, to be sure - as the girl in front of him felt.

It was Kai. And he was smiling - no, _laughing_, as he laid a hand gently on the auburn-haired teen's back, as though to reassure her of something. "Hiromi," he admonished gently, still smiling, his amethyst orbs shining with emotion so rarely seen on his face, "I think you're getting over-excited here. If this room had glass windows, all that would have been left of them would have been shards, thanks to your shriek back there..."

"But, Kai, it's just so...so shockingly wonderful!" Hiromi encircled Kai's neck, bringing the two closer together. "I'm...I'm so happy that...that...oh." She stopped, noticing the group standing in the doorway for the first time.

Takao cleared his throat. "Are we...interrupting anything?"

Hiromi shook her head, wiping away a few tears of happening. "No, nothing, Takao...Kai and I, we were...well..."

Max stepped forward, his mischievous grin lighting up his face. "C'mon, guys, out with it!" he urged. "What's going on?"

Hiromi blushed a bright pink, and even Kai looked slightly embarrassed. "Err..."

And then, unexpectedly, Rei caught sight of something sparkling on Hiromi's and Kai's left ring fingers (Kai had taken his gloves off for the occasion, saying that he only wore them when training or battling). He, too, came closer to the pair.

"Guys..." he began hesitantly, his gaze locked on the twinkling pair of tiny stars. "What are those?"

The slate-haired teen stiffened, knowing the neko-jin had seen them. He looked away, cheeks coloring a little more now.

Rei frowned as though he were studying a specimen of some unknown specie of animal or plant. "Funny that both of you should have the same type of ring, and where them on the same finger of the same hand..." he observed, a grin slowly growing on his face. "Are those_...wedding_ rings?"

For a while, it was only the crickets and other nocturnal animals that could be heard, creating melodies of their own outside the dojo. And then, the silence erupted into one raucous chorale of voices, some surprised, all delighted.

_"WHAT_!"

"Did you say WEDDING rings?"

"No way!"

"You guys actually went and got _married_!"

Now both Kai and Hiromi were blushing deeply, but they got over the initial embarrassment quickly. Kai opened his mouth to speak, and everyone fell silent.

"I guess there's no hiding it now." he began, still smiling as he had when he and Hiromi had the room to themselves. "Yes, Hiromi and I _did _get married, before the BEGA incident."

Once more, the room erupted into cheers, the members of Team BBA - especially Takao - being a bit louder than anyone else.

"Way to go, Kai!"

"Never thought you had it in you!"

"And here I thought you were the very epitome of a human statue..."

Hiromi cleared her throat, and the cheers stopped. All eyes were on the ruby-eyed teen, who looked ready to burst. "Um...to start, I'd like to apologize if I scared anyone when I screamed earlier, and I know you're all wondering why I screamed, as well as why Kai and I are in the same room, alone..."

Kai gulped and blushed deeply when he realized what Hiromi was about to say. "Hiromi, I-"

Hiromi chuckled softly. "I know, Kai, but they have a right to know, too. They _are_ our friends, after all..."

"Well?" Takao urged, looking as excited as a child who got lost in a toy store.

"C'mon! Tell us!" Rei added, amber eyes shining.

"_Please_?" Max finished, putting on his best puppy-dog (or should that be kitty-cat) face.

"Yeah, c'mon..." everyone chimed in. What was this secret that even _Kai_ was reluctant to reveal?

Kai and Hiromi burst out laughing - everyone looked so ridiculous at that point - looked at each other, sending messages in through each other's gaze. Finally, Kai smiled and slowly nodded his head. Hiromi took a deep breath and turned back to face their friends.

"Well...the thing is, guys...I'm..." here she trailed off and glanced down at the floor, blushing again. However, she blurted out the last word in a rather quiet voice; it didn't matter, because it seemed that _everyone_ heard her.

"You're _WHAT_?"

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"Kinomiya, quit pacing," Kai said sternly, glancing up from the (boring) magazine he was reading - rather, _trying_ to read. He flipped it back on the tabletop. "At this rate, you'd think _you're _the one who was about to become a father..." Max, Rei, and Kyouju chuckled at that remark.

Takao stopped pacing and faced the amethyst-eyed teen. "Well, I can't help it! She's probably been in there for over three hours now! What if there are complications? You _know_ that anyone in their right mind would feel nervous, don't you?"

Kai nodded. "Yes, I know. Besides, this is Hiromi's _first_ time, Takao. She's bound to-" Suddenly, loud crying resounded from somewhere down the hall. Takao was the first one to take off down the hall, with Rei and Max close behind, and Kyouju struggling to keep up. The slate-haired teen sighed and stood up, shaking his head at his teammates' overexcitement.

Soon, the five teens were standing in front of the huge, white, swinging doors they all knew led to the maternity ward. They were waiting for the doctor to come out with news on both mother and child.

"How are they?" Kai blurted out as soon as a white-clad doctor stepped through, causing the poor man to nearly drop the clipboard he was holding. The older man glanced from face to face, smiled, and then adjusted his horn-rimmed glasses so they were settled comfortably on the bridge of his nose.

"You're here with..." - he consulted the clipboard, then glanced up again - "Hiwatari Hiromi?" Kai nodded, and he grinned happily. "Hiwatari-_san, _this way please."

"Hey, what about us?" Takao asked. The doctor stopped and glanced over his shoulder. "The four of you can see her tomorrow. Right after birth is what we at Tokyo General like to call 'family time' - only immediate relatives may see the mother and child. We believe it's the best possible way, because the mother won't be overwhelmed by so many visitors."

"But-" the stormy-eyed teen started, but Rei cut him off, laying a restraining hand on the younger teen's shoulder.

"It's all right, sir. We understand." To Takao and the others, he said, "Come on, guys..."

"Oh, all right..." Takao acquiesced sullenly, following the neko-jin back to the waiting room, where they all sat down.

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"Hey," Hiromi said, her voice faint. She was tired - giving birth was _hard_! - but she was happy to see Kai come in. The slate-haired teen smiled back, pulling one of the hard-backed chairs closer to the bed.

"So...you okay?" he asked, clutching her slim hand in his. Hiromi nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. They'll be bringing the baby in any minute now..."

"I see..." Kai glanced towards the door. "So, what is it?"

"'It', Kai, is female."

Kai said nothing in reply. This was the one thing he'd been sure wouldn't have changed. "Have you thought of a name yet?"

"Not yet; I was hoping _you'd_ name her..."

"I see..."

The door creaked, and the young couple looked up. A nurse stood there, holding a small pink bundle of blankets. Smiling, she walked up to the pair, leaned over and set the bundle into Hiromi's arms. "Here you go,"

The two smiled up at the young nurse, who then left the room immediately. Kai and Hiromi then turned to the tiny pink bundle, which wriggled from time to time. Gently, Kai reached over and pulled the soft fabric down a little, to get a better look at the child.

"She's beautiful..." he breathed, admiring the tiny button nose; the wide inquisitive ruby eyes and wispy strands of light slate-gray hair; the round cheeks; and equally tiny, curled fists. "How does the name 'Aika' sound?"

Hiromi looked slightly startled, and then smiled a moment later. "It sounds like a very nice name, Kai...Aika it is..."

The tiny girl blinked, waving both hands weakly. "Where'd you get that name, anyway?" Hiromi asked suddenly, using a finger to caress one of the baby's hands. Kai reached over; Aika clutched at his finger with her small fist.

"Let's just say it came to me in a dream, and I never forgot it..." Kai replied, smiling mysteriously. Absentmindedly playing with the baby's hand, he glanced at the night sky outside, then back at the child, who was now trying to suck on his finger. He smiled_. I'll do everything I can to protect the both of you_, he vowed silently,_ because seeing such a horrible thing happen once is enough for me..._

oOo

A/N: Haha! Finally! It is _finished_! Bet you didn't see _that_ coming! XD Oh, and there's been a slight edit in one of the scenes. I had to sort of describe Rai properly 'cause someone confused him with Rei O.o Also, I gave Mao a _very_ small speaking part, mainly because I thought she'd be great at complaining…XD

Anyway, you guys know what to do next, right? Dewa mata! Peace out!


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